Parenting Powerhouse by Parenting Genie

Holistic Prenatal Practices: Yoga and Midwifery Tips

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Curious how Latin dance can benefit pregnant women? Join us on Parenting Genie as we welcome the multifaceted Kimberly Lear, a prenatal yoga teacher, midwife, and surf coach. Kimberly takes us through her incredible journey, from her early love for surfing in Bundaberg to her impactful volunteer work in Haiti post-Hurricane Matthew. Learn how bachata, with its rhythmic and hip-focused movements, can provide amazing benefits for expectant mothers, and get inspired by Kimberly's dedication to empowering women throughout their pregnancy.

Discover the holistic benefits of prenatal yoga as Kimberly shares expert tips on alleviating common pregnancy ailments like sciatica pain and enhancing mindfulness to prepare for labor. We delve into how her unique integration of midwifery and yoga supports women both at home and in hospitals, ensuring a positive birthing experience. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to join the Parenting Genie community for consultations, yoga classes, and engaging Facebook Live sessions. Tune in to feel strong, aligned, and ready for the beautiful journey of childbirth.

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Carey Donohoe:

Hello and welcome. Every Tuesday, we dive deep into pregnancy and then on Thursday, we switch gears to cover everything about parenting. Rest assured, we're committed to providing you with Hello, amazing parents; it's Carey from Parenting Genie. loads of insights and expert advice every week. I hope you're all having a fabulous day Now. We have a very special guest on our podcast today, a very talented woman who is a prenatal yoga teacher and a midwife, and I've been particularly excited about this combination. So let's all give a warm welcome to Kimberly Lear. Hello, kimberly.

Kimberly Lear:

Hello. Thank you so much for your warm welcome.

Carey Donohoe:

How are you? I'm good. Thank you for joining us, and we really are excited that you are joining the Parenting Genie team. So thank you.

Kimberly Lear:

Thank you, great to be here.

Carey Donohoe:

Now, kimberley, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, or something unexpected, or something a fun fact about yourself?

Kimberly Lear:

A fun fact. People are often surprised that I love Latin dancing, so I'm often dancing bachata and salsa.

Carey Donohoe:

Wow, exciting, I would say.

Kimberly Lear:

I'd recommend bachata for pregnant women. Actually it's really good for the hips. So what is bachata for pregnant women? Actually it's really good for the hips. So what is bachata? Bachata is a form of Latin dancing, like salsa, but it's to a four-beat count, but it really incorporates a lot of hip movement. So I think it's quite fun. My parents have actually started learning salsa since watching me the last few years.

Carey Donohoe:

So how long have you been dancing? Doing uh since 2018.

Kimberly Lear:

Actually, I started learning when I was volunteering in haiti. Uh, there's a big latin dancing scene over there yes, wow.

Carey Donohoe:

So tell us briefly about your experience in haiti. What were you doing over there?

Kimberly Lear:

uh, in haiti, I went to volunteer in a small midwifery clinic, so on the outskirts, not in the big city. I was drawn to go and volunteer there following Hurricane Matthew, and I also had a sponsor child over there. So that's what drew me to Haiti in the first place over there, so that's what drew me to Haiti in the first place. Uh, I did a lot of an educational role.

Kimberly Lear:

Uh, because they don't so much have education in Creole, their native language so I was translating um in French and Creole in English just to help, uh, the midwives, to educate the mothers and, of course, some hands-on delivery and things as well, which was really beautiful over there it must have been a very exciting time for you and I bet yeah really loved it and I bet you learned very enriching well definitely now, I know you love surfing, so tell us a little bit about how you got into that uh, I got into surfing from my father, so I grew up in Bundaberg, which, if you've ever been up there, it's flat the surf.

Kimberly Lear:

But we took the long course out. We weren't jumping out when there was cyclones and such just to try and get a bit of a bigger wave. Um, and you know, we watched kelly slater since I was little.

Kimberly Lear:

I fell in love with the man it's amazing and um yeah, since I started studying nursing on the sunshine coast when I was 17, that's when I started really getting into surfing. Surfing some bigger, more fun ways uh and where I live now in Lenny's head, has a really great surf break, so I'm often out in the surf every morning, um and also a surf coach.

Carey Donohoe:

Oh, a surf coach as well.

Kimberly Lear:

Wow, and so is that something you teach each week uh, yeah, I've been um working a bit of a blend between working the midwifery, the surf, coaching and some lifeguarding uh, getting all of my passion this week yeah, how interesting.

Carey Donohoe:

Well so, from latin dancing to surfing, that's amazing. So can you do any things?

Kimberly Lear:

to enjoy.

Carey Donohoe:

Yes, oh, it's great to have an outlet, really, isn't it? It's amazing. So can you tell us a little bit about your professional background?

Kimberly Lear:

uh. So professionally, I am a registered nurse and midwife. I've also studied tropical medicine before volunteering in Haiti, rwanda and Laos for three years and and have since done um, a public health certificate as well. Um, I graduated in 2015, which seems to go faster than uh, than you think.

Kimberly Lear:

You realize, oh, I've been doing this for a little while now, yeah, yeah, and I realized mostly when um say I go home to visit Bundaberg and I run into women I've birthed with and they no longer have a baby, but they have a child in school, and I'm like, has it been that long? Um, very quickly, but it does go so quickly, um, so I can't imagine for the mothers themselves. It would go even faster it does.

Carey Donohoe:

um, do you have lots of experience there, you know, and, and, and, also with your uh volunteering overseas as well, so you obviously have learned a lot, yeah, and all the different scopes I've liked to do. Yeah, fantastic Kimberley. What drew you to become a midwife and what is your favourite area of midwifery?

Kimberly Lear:

Yeah, um, what drew me to be a midwife? Uh, initially it was to do the more humanitarian work, just supporting babies in low resource settings, um, but since working within the health centre, I've drawn more of a passion to that kind of community-based and really empowering women, um, as I think sometimes it's such an unknown adventure that we're going on in pregnancy, um, that it's really good to empower her to know what are her both options, to ask for those options, um, and to have a positive birth experience which sets her on the right foot to really enjoy motherhood. Oh, absolutely. So I like educating about the other resources they might have available to them, the different birth options, whether that's finding a place to have a water birth or using a rebozo to get an alignment. Yeah, just looking at each birth individually for families even though birth is natural for everyone, it's also very individual to each family, exactly totally.

Carey Donohoe:

And so what led you to become a prenatal yoga teacher?

Kimberly Lear:

so through supporting women. I do see in birth or in pregnancies there are those common ailments that women might find that got that backache with that growing womb, or a bit of sciatica with the pressure, um, even up to nausea, or just a reflux from that growing baby up in their womb. I've just seen how yoga well, I've been practicing myself for 15 years and I do notice it in my body if I go a few days without yeah uh.

Kimberly Lear:

So I think, even more for a body that is changing with pregnancy, with the growing weight of the womb baby, that it's very important to get that alignment to try and prevent these ailments of some aches and pains that can come, as well as really learning the breath work, uh, which is very important, I think, for labour, because we often tense up when we experience pain, whereas to birth your baby you really need to create an opening and let that go. So learning how to control your pelvic floor through breath work, I think, is a very useful tool to have, as well as that sense of calm when everything's changing in your body during labor, that you can still have that, um, that intuition with your body on what it needs in that moment.

Carey Donohoe:

That's right, and I mean we all talk about you know the pain in labor as a positive pain and it is really important to try and breathe and relax through that pain so you can open up. So yeah, I can see how that prenatal yoga would help prepare, you know, especially first time moms, you know for labor.

Kimberly Lear:

Yes.

Carey Donohoe:

What benefits have you seen in women you know that are doing yoga during pregnancy? What kind of benefits are there?

Kimberly Lear:

during pregnancy. What kind of benefits are there? Um, the benefits being that I do see that it does help if women are having that sciatica pain, that it can really assist with that. Um, I also find it's a time that mums can have a bit of like that restorative moment where they're so busy they're maybe looking after others still at work, not sure what's happening with their body, just to come and be in tune with what's happening, in tune with their baby. That can help them be more mindful of their baby's movements, as that's something that we really recommend are in touch with their baby's movements for monitoring their well-being. Um, and I see that it helps women feel more confident in their labor, able to relax when they need to rest in between contractions and able to breathe and use their body well to get in that good position and move around more mobile. Um, because, yeah, in labor we don't want to just be laying on a bed, we want to be up and changing positions to help that baby get through the birth canal.

Carey Donohoe:

Oh, yes, sure. So how have you combined midwifery and prenatal yoga?

Kimberly Lear:

So working as a midwife, I first started just doing it with the women. So I have worked as a midwife in the hospital setting, so sometimes it's with women I've not met before in the hospital setting, so sometimes it's with women I've not met before.

Kimberly Lear:

But I find that it's a way that you can just really relate with women, maybe first relaxing muscles on her forehead telling her to drop her time and then talking through some breathwork techniques with her and I find that it can help women to go from the kind of estate to letting it go, relaxing all the muscles that need to relax and allowing that baby to descend better. And that's how I started, and I think, going into the community and working with women to then just start their labour knowing what to come in with, having those tools, having those positions, being able to feel their body better. It's just helped them to have a little bit more calm and control in their birth and a bit more ease to it.

Carey Donohoe:

Wow, yeah, that's totally amazing. So, like I said earlier, we're really excited to have you join. Parenting Genie. What excites you about joining our community?

Kimberly Lear:

Yeah, well, I'm excited, uh, because I think it's so valuable to help reach out to women in the community as they're coming to the hospital setting maybe going between doctors and midwives and all the information you can get from books it can be so overwhelming and you don't always have time to ask questions, but I find um therapy genie is just giving those like precious nuggets of information on their pages that mums can just easily access, as well as making the availability of consultations for mums to access from home, because no one really wants to drive to the hospital, wait for your appointment, find parking, that can be quite hard. So I think making that education and that support accessible for mums at home is so important and very valuable. So I'm excited to be part of that team.

Carey Donohoe:

Oh, wonderful. Yeah, it is important. You know like, not everyone can just get to a clinic or a hospital easily, you know. So it's great to have that option to jump on and, yeah, book a consultation or a prenatal yoga class or anything like that. So that's good. Um, what can parents expect from your facebook live sessions, um, and your yoga classes?

Kimberly Lear:

so I want to change it up each week with the facebook lives, jumping between some breath work, getting ready for labour, or just relaxing in your pregnancy when things feel a little bit overwhelming, or changing, as well as maybe some partner poses getting a bit of fun. Whether that's with your partner or a good friend, those partner poses can be a lot of fun as well. As I think that physical touch is so important, um, as a really useful and tools, really supportive for women. Um, I'll be going through some ways to overcome those ailments that we talked about, those aches and pains or, um, yeah, just feeling a lot more aligned in your body and getting in tune with your baby wow, that's exciting.

Carey Donohoe:

So, yeah, I can't wait for those lives. Kimberly, what do you feel really passionate about when teaching prenatal yoga?

Kimberly Lear:

um, like I said with midwifery, and why I got into it. I really love empowering women.

Kimberly Lear:

So with um, with the yoga, because it can feel like there is so much information and do this, don't do that, um so much, and I find that it's a real time that women can center in, listen to their own bodies, feel what feels good for them and also do it in a safe space, one where they're not being to go, go go in our busy societies as well, and so they have to also restore, uh, restore their energy, and some poses to really relax, as well as ones to, um, really strengthen their body, uh, to better support the weight of the growing womb, and also just more empowered, through all of that, to go into birth and know that they, as women, can birth, that's what their bodies are created to do, and that it can be a really positive experience for them.

Carey Donohoe:

I know they're strong and powerful amazing.

Kimberly Lear:

I'm always amazed. I know I also love meeting the babies after palpating. I'm always like what is this guy going to look?

Carey Donohoe:

like. I know how does that all fit in? Plus the placenta, plus the amniotic fluid, everything. It's just amazing, isn't it? The whole process?

Kimberly Lear:

it is incredible, but I think the biggest joy comes when you see the strength of a woman and the love that she has, that she birthed her baby and then being witnessing their first time that they get to greet their baby that they've been waiting to meet for so long. I think that would have to be the highlight of my job oh, it's such an honor, isn't it?

Carey Donohoe:

it really Definitely, yeah. Well, kimberley, what advice would you give to our mums out there who are pregnant, who are a little bit unsure whether they should join a prenatal yoga class? What advice would you give to them?

Kimberly Lear:

I would say try it out. So pregnancy is new, every pregnancy is new, so why not try another new experience as you're going, as you go into your prenatal class, go and don't try the biggest or the best expression of a pose that you can do. Listen to your body as you go into it and listen to the modifications that the teacher may be offering. Know that you are often in a room of uh women who are doing yoga for the first time, so you don't have to have had you have done yoga before the pregnancy yoga. It is tailored by the teacher to see um pregnant bodies um, and there will be offerings between which trimester you're in first, second or third, depending on the size of your uterus, on which props you should do or how deep into a pose you should go. So I think, always just listening to your teacher, maybe coming a bit early to ask some questions, as well as listening to your body and have some fun.

Carey Donohoe:

Yeah, exactly, so you don't have to have done yoga before to come along to prenatal yoga. You can just come along for the first time. No, definitely not. You can. Wonderful Well, kimberley, as we wrap up today's podcast, is there anything else you'd like to share with our community today?

Kimberly Lear:

No, I think, just enjoy your pregnancy, enjoy your baby and all that is coming. And, yeah, just know that there are those resources that are out for you, like Parenting Genie, that you can reach to to help you feel more encouraged, more independent and empowered through your pregnancy and birth.

Carey Donohoe:

Yeah, that's amazing. Well, we've really enjoyed having you on the podcast today and for all our audience out there. Now, if you want to book a prenatal yoga class with Kimberley, just go to parentinggeniecomau. Or if you want a consultation, because Kimberley's a midwife as well, you can also just book a consultation with her, again at parentinggeniecomau. But you will be seeing Kimberly live on our Facebook page very soon, so keep your eye out there and she'll go through all things prenatal yoga. So thank you again, kimberly, for coming on, and we look forward to seeing you soon. Take care you have a good day. Bye. Thank you, carrie, here signing off. Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. We're looking forward to hearing from you, so please don't hesitate to send us your questions and the topics you're eager for us to explore. Join us next time for more tips and stories that make parenting a joy. Until then, happy parenting and see you in the next episode.