The BIRTHFIT Podcast

Mom and baby don't have two separate stress systems. They share one, with the placenta as the gatekeeper. Dr. Lindsey walks through how the placenta buffers mom's cortisol, the "placental clock" that helps set the timing of birth, and why chronic stress matters more than a hard day. Then she brings in midwife Robin Lim's Placenta: The Forgotten Chakra, along with her own take on cord timing and honoring the placenta as baby's guardian angel. Sources: Togher KL et al. Epigenetics. 2014 McLean M et al. Nat Med. 1995 Sandman CA et al. Peptides. 2006 ACOG Committee Opinion No. 814, 2020 Lim R. Placenta: The Forgotten Chakra   Get Involved Get the BIRTHFIT newsletter: Weekly education, science meets hippie, straight to your inbox. BIRTHFIT Coach Accelerator: For coaches and practitioners ready to start supporting pregnant and postpartum women with confidence. BIRTHFIT Certification Waitlist: Our Lifestyle Medicine Certification for Practitioners opens again in February 2027. Join the waitlist to be first in.

"Keep your heart rate under 140" is still one of the most common things pregnant women hear. In this episode, Dr. Lindsey covers where the number came from in 1985, why ACOG dropped it in 1994, and why it quietly showed up again in 2020. She explains why heart rate is a shaky gauge in pregnancy and shares four better tools: the talk test, perceived exertion, heart rate trends, and HRV.   Sources: Evenson KR, Hesketh KR. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2021 ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804, 2020 Bauer PW et al. J Womens Health. 2010 2019 Canadian Guideline for Physical Activity Throughout Pregnancy, Br J Sports Med   Get Involved Get the BIRTHFIT newsletter: Weekly education, science meets hippie, straight to your inbox. BIRTHFIT Coach Accelerator: For coaches and practitioners ready to start supporting pregnant and postpartum women with confidence. BIRTHFIT Certification Waitlist: Our Lifestyle Medicine Certification for Practitioners opens again in February 2027. Join the waitlist to be first in.

The Village Used to Be the Default For almost all of human history, no mother raised a baby alone. Grandmothers, aunties, neighbors and other mothers all pitched in, and cultures around the world built rest and care into the postpartum season. Somewhere along the way, the village became optional, and then it disappeared from view. The need for it never went away.   In this episode, Dr. Lindsey covers where the village went, what isolation costs mothers in pregnancy and postpartum, and four practical ways to rebuild your village on purpose, starting this week.   In this episode: Why humans were built to raise babies with many hands Postpartum traditions from around the world that protected new mothers How isolation affects a mother's stress, sleep, healing and mood How to map your village and make specific asks before you need them How chiropractors and gym owners can cultivate the village where they work Join the BIRTHFIT Newsletter Get on the Certification Waitlist

In this episode, Dr. Lindsey discusses three case questions that were submitted recently. She gets into a career change into birth work, round ligament discomfort, and pain in feet at the top of the second trimester. Listen to this episode to hear how Dr. Lindsey approached these cases.    Certification Waitlist

How Full Is Your Cup, Really? You're doing all the "right" things: the workouts, the supplements, the birth prep. So why do you feel wired at night, drained all day, and one spilled cup away from tears? In this episode, Dr. Lindsey breaks down the difference between your load (everything being asked of you) and your capacity (what your body and nervous system can actually hold right now). You'll learn why pregnancy and postpartum change your capacity week to week, how to tell adaptive stress from overreach, and a simple three-question check-in you can do every Sunday using the BIRTHFIT 7 Pillars. Small adjustments, made consistently, help you build forward instead of burning out. Your body isn't failing you. It's telling you the truth about your capacity. Coach Accelerator Program BIRTHFIT Certification Waitlist Newsletter PDF Freebie