Be transformed instead of traumatized by birth

 The first time I witnessed a baby being born was in a small rural clinic in Kenya. I was 13 years old, spending the day with my dad while he provided medical services when a local woman walked in looking tired and very pregnant.

Beads of sweat on her forehead were the only visible signs of her discomfort, and soon she delivered a healthy baby into her own hands.

Thirteen years later in the USA, preparing for the birth of my own first...

Hi! I’m Heather Dvorak. I am an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and the owner of A Baby Place. We are a team of 4 IBCLCs and we provide office visits in Lombard, IL and Dallas, TX, home visits throughout the western suburbs of Chicago and the Rockwall, TX area, and telehealth all over the world. My husband and I have twin daughters who are now 11, an 8 yr old son and a 4yr old son.

I returned to work fairly quickly with each of my pregnancies.

I was back to...

We have been working to help families transition in the postpartum period for sometime now and with over 2000 hours of postpartum work have learned a thing or two. Whether you are a new parent about to embark on the journey into parenthood or planning to visit a new baby, here are a few things to keep in mind.

10 things that we have learned as postpartum doulas

1. New parents want to be heard, and your birth story is valid and important. The glorious stories, the traumatic births, and the ones...

Our bodies are in a constant state of fight or flight. Everyday stressors impact our nervous system from birth and on, impacting the way we move, think, develop, and feel on a daily basis. It’s easy to fall into a cycle of just getting by as the physical and mental symptoms pile up.

What if instead of just getting by, you could thrive?

That’s our goal for you and your family.

At Lifetime Health & Wellness, located in Naperville, Illinois, we use gentle, neuro-focused...

Owning our Truth in a Culture of Niceties

People react in so many different ways when they find out that your family is expanding. Most of these conversations start with “Congratulations,” but for many parents-to-be, it’s not as straightforward as people assume.

We live in a culture that tends to tell us how we “should” feel instead of holding space for how we actually feel.

There may be a part of us that is in shock, a part that is excited, a part that is...

Happy Healing Post Surgery

Scar Tissue and C-Sections

Hi! My name is Krysia Tscherewik and I have the most wonderful job in the world. I have had the honor to work with thousands of women for the last seventeen years. My job? I am an abdominal therapist. I know it sounds weird at first but when I tell you what it can do for you, you will be signing up.

Abdominal therapy helps with reproductive and digestive issues, such as PCOS, Fibroids, Irregular periods, Period pain, Infertility, Crohn's...

Are you a new mom struggling to regain your core strength after pregnancy? Some of you who are nodding “yes” are 6 months postpartum…..and some of you are 6 years or more so please know you're not alone. Many women experience a common condition called diastasis rectus abdominus (DRA) which refers to the separation of the abdominal muscles, during pregnancy. While some will spontaneously heal in the postpartum period, many will not.  In an effort to “tone”...

This is one of the most-asked questions I get as a Women’s Health PT and Postnatal Pilates Specialist. 

It’s a question I vividly remember asking myself one week after the birth of my first child when my once flat stomach bubbled up to the surface of the water as I attempted to relax in the tub.  I poked at this flabby skin pouch with a mixture of confusion and fascination.  The body I had once known and had grown to love over the first 28 years of my life...

Diastasis Rectus Abdominus, or DRA for those of us short on time(!), is an abnormal separation of the left and right rectus abdominus muscles and can happen in babies, athletes, men, and women!  Having a history of being pregnant (no matter the delivery method) can put you at increased risk for this condition for several reasons. 

Excessive amounts of force on the linea alba (the connective tissue between the rectus muscles)

The abdominal region is the only area where connective...