The Alimond Show
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The Alimond Show
Caroline O'Neill Owner of The body Birth and Baby Center
Embark on a journey with us into the heart of maternal wellness, guided by a devoted mother and massage therapist whose fourfold experience of childbirth illuminates our latest episode. Our esteemed guest from the Body Birth and Baby Center in Leesburg unwraps the layers of a holistic pregnancy and birth support system, from the gentle embrace of hypno-birthing and prenatal yoga to the comforting guidance of lactation consulting. As she weaves tales from her own life, revealing the synergy between nurturing a family and a flourishing business, you'll discover the art of balance and the power of being fully present in life's most precious moments.
The conversation then blooms into a vibrant discussion about the fabric of community that holds mothers together, in times of both joy and challenge. As our guest outlines the sustenance provided by the center, where women gather to share, learn, and grow, you'll feel the warmth of a community that extends beyond services to forge deep, enduring connections. Through the shared wisdom of birthing preparation and the laughter of a postnatal yoga class, listen as we portray the Body Birth and Baby Center as a beacon for mothers navigating the waters of parenthood, entrepreneurship, and self-care.
I am a mama four, but my love for prenatal care started before I even had kids. I became a massage therapist in my mid-20s and I was led into a direction of working with women during pregnancy so prenatal massage and postpartum massage so I got started back in 2007 and supporting women in that way then Beautiful.
Speaker 2:And then tell me what you do with your business. What's the name of it?
Speaker 1:It's the Body Birth and Baby Center. We're right in Leesburg and the Body Birth and Baby Center has been open since 2022. But those of us that are there have been doing this work for a long time and what's unique about our space is that we all provide our own unique services, but we're all in one space. So families that are looking to grow their family so become pregnant throughout their pregnancy, postpartum support you can come to the Body Birth and Baby Center and we have so much to offer everyone there.
Speaker 2:Beautiful. I saw online a couple of questions like have you ever thought of these? Then maybe you're a good candidate for this. And one of them was like are you thinking of having, like, a natural birth? What's the difference here between just going to a hospital? Sure yeah.
Speaker 1:So at the Body Birth and Baby Center it's not a place for giving birth, but it is a place to learn about birth, be supported throughout your pregnancy. We do have home birth midwives that see their clients out of the Body Birth and Baby Center and ultimately those families are having their baby at home. So those families would come to their prenatal visits in our office. But the center as a whole really supports all types of birth. So a lot of the clients that I work with I teach childbirth education called hypno-birthing, my prenatal massage. Those families that I work with it's a variety. Some are having a home birth, some might choose to have a birth center birth and others are going to have the hospital birth, and so we support women and families in whatever choice or path that they're taking.
Speaker 2:Okay, and then tell me about the workshops. What all do you offer with that?
Speaker 1:Yes. So, along with childbirth education, which is so important to be prepared for that huge day in your life, it's also really important to learn about breastfeeding, if that's something that you're hoping to do, so being educated on what that looks like and what to expect in those early weeks and then getting continued support from Lilly, who is our lactation consultant. We have a lot of yoga classes. Susan teaches those, so some that are just more women's wellness, or prenatal or postpartum, or baby and me. She also supports women with a holistic spa, a wellness spa, so anyone that is trying to conceive or is pregnant. All of the products that she uses is safe. We have a pelvic floor PT and she works with women individually, but she also offers workshops as well so that women can be prepared for birth as far as their pelvic floor goes, and then also postpartum and recovery as well Can you tell me how yoga goes hand in hand with prenatal health.
Speaker 1:Sure, definitely One thing that's really important when you're going through this whole period in your life is Tapping into your nervous system and figuring out how you can calm that nervous system so that you are able to handle a big event. So yoga is a huge Asset in that way. But we also want to be strong. We also want to have strength in our body, because giving birth is a very big physical event. We also want to have Mobility and stretch in our body, so the lengthening of our muscles as well. So strength, stability, mobility all of those things are going to help prepare you for birth day, hey and then, how are you getting your clientele?
Speaker 2:Are you marketing? Is it more word of mouth?
Speaker 1:I would say at this point is very much word of mouth. As I had mentioned, we all have been doing this for a long time. We have a lot of returning clients and patients. But, yes, the referrals are the best. You know hearing that a friend referred them to us and you know we have a decent social media presence, so people do find us in that way too.
Speaker 2:Okay, awesome Are you guys very active on social media, would you say like, sorry, I gotta know the bot.
Speaker 1:So if you go to body birth and baby Loudon, that was initially my personal work Instagram, so I was mainly talking about massage and hypnoburthing, infant massage workshops that I do, but of course, as I opened the center and all these other providers were joining me, it became a platform for everyone. Yeah, so it's a really great way to kind of like, keep up with all of the offerings that we have. We also bring in out for outside providers as well, so there's constantly workshops, new offerings that are coming, and so that's a great way to keep up. I am the face of that as far as like on stories and talking to people and just trying to connect with all of our community that way.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Um, can you tell me three misconceptions that you hear come up a lot when it comes to prenatal health?
Speaker 1:Sure, yeah. So I think that Just walking into childbirth and just doing whatever you're told the doctors know best yeah, we need our providers there to help, support us, to help us make good decisions, but we need to be educated as well. We need to understand the questions to ask so that we can have this two-way conversation and make sure that that provider is on the same page as us and is listening to us and is respecting us. So having that education is so important.
Speaker 1:I also think the community aspect that was a huge reason I opened the body, birth and baby center is I would see clients you know, individually or in group classes, but then they're just off, right and and okay, what's the next thing that we can find to take or go to? Where we have it? So much of it all in-house. So these families are seeing each other in a class, they're seeing each other in the waiting room as they are waiting for their next appointment, and these faces become familiar and we have complimentary postpartum support as well, so they can come to these groups and build their Community. Yeah, exactly, and I think that is so important.
Speaker 1:Whether it is your first baby or your fourth baby, you need those people in your life, yeah yeah, definitely and I think probably the last Misconception with some of the work that I do is that if you're gonna have a medicated birth, you don't need to take a class or you don't need to prepare I'm gonna get an epidural. I always say an epidural is not a birth plan and birth is way bigger than that. A really big aspect of that is the Mental preparation. You want to feel calm, you want to feel confident because you are going into a very big event. That is hard work, but the more calm you feel, the more prepared you feel. Whatever type of birth that you are preparing for, you will feel better on the other side. Okay, wow.
Speaker 2:I, when I think of that, like with epidural, I just think like you just get this shot and you just Right, you're just there and you just do what you got to do, but apparently it sounds like it's much more than what that is.
Speaker 1:And a big part of what I teach people is sure, if that epidural is in your plan, that's fine, but what about all those hours before? And what if we need to get that baby lower down into your pelvis before birth? We don't want to get the epidural because then all of a sudden you're in bed and you can't move and you can't use gravity, and you know what. Maybe you'll surprise yourself, right, oh?
Speaker 2:my God, you'll never know till you try. You never know, yeah, so you don't try, that's right, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's right, Don't just swing it. That is a big, a big message that I would.
Speaker 2:I would send Don't just swing it I take note because I'm always winging everything sometimes and like stop it, okay, yeah. And then who are you outside of work, like what do you like to do when you're not educating women on birth?
Speaker 1:Sure. So, as I mentioned, I have four kids. We are ranging from almost eight to 15 now, so I'm in a different phase of life than my clients, but that's one of the reasons I love supporting them is because I lived through it. I said there was a time when I was drowning in toddlers and babies you know like.
Speaker 1:I had so many of them just running around my house, and so I have this lived experience of being a mom, where I was primarily home for a couple of years and but I always had this ambitious side of me to own a business and to support people in our community.
Speaker 1:So I was I'm a mom man right Like I'm with those kids, supporting them in all the new adventures they are doing. But it's been really cool to also broaden my business, open this business be a place that hopefully, every single family in Loudoun County who wants to have a family or grow their family knows about us. So, with that being said, I'm figuring out how do I make time for myself, because that is something that I really try to instill in these young moms Like we. We don't want to lose ourselves. We're finding out about a new person. When you become a mom, it's a new version of you, and so some things that are really important to me personally in my life right now is connecting with my friends. You know I've had these great friends for a long time, but we're all so busy and I want to make sure that we're getting that good quality girl time, talk support.
Speaker 2:So that's one of my 2024 goals is to make sure I get my girl time yeah.
Speaker 1:And then prioritizing my health as well. Those are good ones yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm rooting for you because I feel like moms are so important and kids totally well. You would hope, and you know, sometimes when they're in teens, their teens they're like mom, leave me alone. But I think, at the end of the day, the bigger picture is that they do appreciate that you're there and they will once they see the bigger picture. So it's important for you to not lose yourself during that process.
Speaker 2:I think I'm not a mom, but I can only imagine trying to balance that and put myself in your shoes and it's like wait, what did I used to do before you guys?
Speaker 1:Like you know, and I like to incorporate them. You know they watched me open this business. They hear me talk about my clients. They see me putting hours in on the computer, you know. So they see all that behind the scenes work and I hope that they're proud of me. I'm sure they are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think once we get older, we're just like you know what dang? My mom was a rock star. Whoa, my mom did that and I was like this, you appreciate it more. Yes, so I'm looking forward to those years for you. And then, speaking of like family and work, how do you balance that? How do you put boundaries? Sure.
Speaker 1:So I, once you're kind of out of that little baby phase and you are getting really good sleep, as always, prioritize sleep. I always start my day just me. So I set my alarm before my kids are going to get up and I make my coffee and I try to be really intentional with that time where I'm either reading or I'm journaling and then, once I've done kind of those things, I might get a little bit of work done before the day starts because then I can be more present with them. I also want to make sure I'm putting my phone away. Yes, when I am with my kids I really am intentional about that is making sure that we are talking and making eye contact and laughing, making sure we're playing some card games, enjoying movies, so really being intentional.
Speaker 2:That's so important. I feel like it's so good that you have that with them, Like, hey, let's make eye contact, let's put this away, Because I feel like that kind of gets lost nowadays. Sometimes people maybe just do it without realizing like oh, that's rude.
Speaker 1:Or you know so. I think that's beautiful, that you're playing board game and you're like hey put the phone down, let's be present here, yeah, and I take those times too, when they are needing me or wanting me and I say like I got to finish this work real quick, and as soon as I do, you're mine, you know.
Speaker 2:Yep, can you tell me about any challenging experiences that you've had since opening your own business? And what you've learned, Sure what you feel like man. I'm glad that happened, because now Dot, dot, dot yeah.
Speaker 1:Let me think about that for a moment. You know, I've had this vision for a number of years and the big aspect of it was that community. And so, of course, there was a pause that I had to take because of the COVID and like, of course, people not coming together for a time, and then it felt like the most perfect time because everybody was ready and I feel that I was at a point where I was just taking a leap. I was like I don't know, like I don't know how this is going to go, but something in my gut is just telling me this is the time, just do it. And all of the providers that joined me it was very serendipitous, it made sense, it felt right. I wasn't rushing things.
Speaker 1:That's something that I have really learned is not to rush a decision. So even if I am meeting with someone new that I might be considering bringing in or have you know, have an offering of theirs, what I've started to say is I don't make decisions in the moment. I need to sit with this and I will get back to you. So that is a big thing that I have learned, because you can get really excited, yes, but you got to make sure it's the right time. You have to make sure it's the right fit. It's really important to me that everything that we offer is of the same quality, the same intention and the same purpose. I want no egos walking in there, so I would say those are some things that I've really like focused on. Take that pause, take that breath and don't rush.
Speaker 2:That's good. I'm glad that you've also reflected on it too and learned, because sometimes things happen to you and you don't really come out learning. For instance, I'm speaking from experience because sometimes I'll do stuff and I won't realize like why did this happen to me? But I don't stop and think like hey, you know what, this happened for a reason and the timing wasn't right, right, I just you know. So I think that's great that you have a little list there that you're like right people, no egos, yeah.
Speaker 2:This is what I want? Yeah, all right. And then if you could give a business owner any advice if they're looking to start a business, whether it's in the medical field or any other field, what's something that you would like for them to know?
Speaker 1:Sure, I think that you have to freaking love it. If you don't love what you're going to do every day, then you're not gonna wanna go and you're gonna get burned out and you're gonna get tired of it. And one thing that I think has helped me continue to love what I do is really diversify what I offer. So I'm not only a massage therapist, I am not only a childbirth educator. I don't only run this business. I have my hands in a few things and I can add some flexibility. Like, maybe one week I have more massage clients, maybe in another week, another month, I have more classes that are happening, and then, okay, I need a break, I need to take a day or two off and regroup. So making sure that you are finding those ways to stay excited and then also pause.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's a good one. Don't wanna get burned out and you gotta make sure you love what you do That'll help you in the longer. I think, and where can people find you or get more information on you guys?
Speaker 1:Sure our website is bodybirthandbabycom, and that is where you're gonna find the information on all of our providers, so you will see which providers are in the office. You will be able to see what classes and workshops are being regularly offered. Signed up for them there. You can join our newsletter down at the bottom as well. And then, as I mentioned, on Instagram, we're bodybirthandbabylouden and we do have a Facebook page, and that is the BodybirthandBaby Center. There we go.
Speaker 2:So yes, and then, just to wrap this up, can you tell me, my mind just went blank.
Speaker 1:I'm so sorry, that's okay.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna edit this, I'll cut this. Yeah, okay, I remember now what is something that you would like possible clients or potential candidates for them to know in order to come with you, Like what do you wanna let them know? Sure.
Speaker 1:It's okay, I'll edit this. I know, I know I got this.
Speaker 2:Like why should they come to you? Why are you different?
Speaker 1:I think that they should like dive in. What's really cool is someone might come to us for one thing, because maybe they saw that posted online, right, like a prenatal yoga class or oh, you offer infant CPR. And then they come and they're like, oh wait, there's all this other stuff here. So dive in so that you can be part of the community. The community is such a big part, and so my hope is that we're that foundation for you. We are the place where you met that best friend or that group of friends that supported you. So even once you are out of the phase of the body, birth and baby center, you have all those people around you.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. I'm sure sometimes it can feel a little bit alienating or lonely, so that's beautiful. You have a little hub for women to come together and be like, hey, I'm gonna do it the same time as you, that's right. Yes, awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time. Was there anything else you wanted to say?