early years

Birth

Kindred's best of Breastfeeding interviews playlist.

Breastfeeding

Since its conception in 1998, Kindred World has explored, pioneered and championed the thought leaders, activists, practitioners and parents who brought forward the New Story of Childhood, Parenthood and the Human Family. We're happy to present some of our favorite and most ground-breaking interviews for your enjoyment and inspiration here.

Please support our nonprofit work at www.KindredWorld.org.

Please follow our work, and subscribe to our newsletter, at www.KindredMedia.org.

Conscious Parenting Movement

In this interview, Lisa Reagan talks with Kathleen Kendall-Tackett about the responses to the Kindred's video series featuring the latest science and researching supporting the healing powers of breastfeeding. Kendall-Tackett says that the science is there in spades, but the cultural support for breastfeeding is not.  Despite the abysmal support for breastfeeding and many parents' guilt and resentment over the lack of basic social support, like family leave, Kendall-Tackett says from her vantage point things are improving.  She shares her insights in the audio interview above.
Read the transcript here:  http://www.kindredmedia.org/2013/08/why-i-believe-breastfeeding-culture-is-improving-with-kathleen-kendall-tackett-phd/

Watch the video series here: https://vimeo.com/72118476

Dr. Kendall-Tackett covers: breastfeeding's ability to protect maternal mental health, "significantly" decrease child abuse, aid sexual assault recovery and heal birth trauma.
As Kendall-Tackett says, "By being able to turn off the chronic stress response, breastfeeding helps women cope with new motherhood... It's like Nature knew we didn't lead perfect lives and provided a built-on system to handle trauma. Breastfeeding does this beautifully and really helped to restore health to women."
She also answers the perennial question, "Do breastfeeding mother's get more sleep?" But the answers to this question and others depends upon the recognition that breastmilk - a nutrient-dense, living product - and breastfeeding - a millions of years old process supporting bonding and brain development, "do not produce the same results". 
Where are mothers in industrialized countries to turn for support when, as she says in her video interviews, "We don't even know what support looks like?" Kendall-Tackett presents her recommendations below for addressing the postpartum weeks and months with advice from other cultures who are successfully supporting new mothers.
Sure, we know as conscious parents that nursing our children is one way to express our bodies' innate intelligence while bringing forth our children's, but it's nice to have so much new research to back up our heart wisdom! Please share these powerful insights and practical breastfeeding wisdom with your friends and family and help us improve cultural knowledge and support of breastfeeding!

Breastfeeding Benefits for Mothers with Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, PhD

Lisa Reagan, Kindred's editor, talks with the authors of the book, Attached at the Heart. Lysa Parker and Barbara Nicholson share their insights from the third editor of their beloved and classic parenting book.

Read more about the interview and watch the video version here: https://kindredmedia.org/2024/01/normalizing-nurturing-a-discussion-with-the-authors-of-attached-at-the-heart/

Read the foreword to the book, by Darcia Narvaez, here: https://kindredmedia.org/2024/01/attached-at-the-heart-the-foreword-by-darcia-narvaez/

Learn more about the book here: https://kindredmedia.org/2024/01/35730/

“Our book encourages the nurturing care and emotional connections necessary to build strong, resilient brains for optimal mental and emotional health. It’s revolutionary because the information in this book isn’t found in most parenting books. It counters popular parenting advice in order to empower parents to listen to their babies and young children. These early years are critical to the development of trust and empathy, the necessary ingredients for developing a secure attachment,” said co-author Barbara Nicholson, MEd, CEIM.

Attached at the Heart is endorsed by parenting experts, pediatricians and luminary moms such as Alanis Morissette and Mayim Bialik, PhD.

“When we co-founded Attachment Parenting International, now known as Nurturings, nearly 30 years ago, we knew that new parents needed evidence-informed education and practical information about how best to nurture their babies. That’s how Attached at the Heart came about – as a guidebook for new parents to help them lean into their caregiving instincts and set their children up for success,” said co-author Lysa Parker, MS, CFLE, CEIM.

Attached at the Heart has been a key resource for the attachment parenting movement, encouraging parents to trust their instincts and provide responsive care for their children.

“Research has proven that early nurturing experiences transform lives. The Eight Principles of Parenting that are detailed in our book are supported by research and rooted in attachment theory. Attached at the Heart provides science and evidence-backed recommendations to guide new parents in their loving journey,” said Nicholson.

The 3rd edition provides new recommendations regarding infant sleep, how to help children and their parents maintain a secure attachment, and how parents can learn to be more emotionally self-aware in order to teach their children emotional regulation strategies.

Normalizing Nurturing: An Interview with the Authors of Attached at the Heart

Virginia is one of three states that does not have a law protecting mothers who breastfeed in public.  Activist, Kate Noon, talks with us about the newly proposed bill that is passing quickly through committees and what it means for Virginia families if this bill becomes law.  Follow the VA Breastfeeding Alliance on Facebook for more information about the bill: https://www.facebook.com/groups/326805100847426/

Watch for the upcoming editorial from Lisa Reagan exploring the possible impact of the new bill in a state with a long way to go to truly support breastfeeding mothers and promote family wellness. www.KindredMedia.org

Kate Noon is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a background in advocacy and activism. She holds certifications in Aging Studies and Perinatal Mood Disorders, and she is a Certified Lactation Counselor. Kate has 15+ years of experience in the non-profit sector, currently working as Program Director for Better Housing Coalition and serving as Board Chair for Midwives for Haiti. She is a member of the Virginia Breastfeeding Taskforce and serves on the Virginia Breastfeeding Advisory Committee.  Kate lives in Hanover, VA with her husband Daniel and two children, Izzy and Dylan.

Virginia Breastfeeding Bill Update from Kate Noon February 2015

Lisa Reagan talks with Kathleen Gyllenhaal about her documentary, IN UTERO, premiering at the Seattle International Film Festival June 4-6, 2015. Read the print version of this interview here: http://www.kindredmedia.org/2015/06/an-interview-with-in-utero-filmmaker-kathleen-gyllenhaal-includes-podcast-and-transcript/

IN UTERO is a cinematic rumination on what will emerge as the most provocative subject of the 21st Century – life in the womb and its lasting impact on human development, human behavior, and the state of the world. Epigenetics, Alice In Wonderland, The Matrix, scientists, psychologists and doctors converge to prove that we are not what we think we are. IN UTERO brings together for the first time convincing data that explains why some of us face challenges from the start while others thrive. Prepare to be surprised, intrigued, but no longer baffled by what the future holds for yourself, your loved ones, and the human race.

Kathleen Gyllenhaal's  previous films include Sita, A Girl from Jambu, about child sex trafficking and Beauty Mark, an examination of America’s obsession with body image. She has also directed dramatic shorts, including the award-winning Lychee Thieves, and co-produced the feature Grassroots.

Visit IN UTERO at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inuterofilm?fref=ts
Visit IN UTERO's Website: http://www.inuterofilm.com/

An Interview With IN UTERO Filmmaker, Kathleen Gyllenhaal

Dr. James McKenna, the world's leading expert on mother-baby sleep and director of the Mother Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame, shares the new research term and understanding of "breastsleeping."  Dr. McKenna, a 30 year researcher into mother-baby sleep, says the term is necessary to help provide a neutral term and understanding of the inseparable relationship between mother baby that the anti-cosleeping campaign of the American Academy of Pediatrics has forced onto parents, leaving them in the dark without safe bedsharing guidelines.  Because over 2 million mothers on any night in America are bedsharing with their infants, Dr. McKenna says frightening parents, disrespecting their civil rights and intuition and then leaving parents without proper bedsharing education is scientifically and morally indefensible.  Read a full transccript of the interview here: http://www.kindredmedia.org/2015/10/breastsleeping-what-is-it-can-the-new-science-insight-create-cultural-support-and-resources-for-parents/

Word's Leading Mother-Baby Sleep Expert On New Concept: Breastsleeping

PLEASE support the PLA with this great gift for YOURSELF and you can REST FOR A CAUSE! Starting November 3rd all registered participants in Rest for a Cause will embark on 15 minutes of 'rest' practicing a sleep-based meditation technique from Bold Tranquility for 21 days and simultaneously raising money for the Parent Liberation Alliance. GET YOUR 21-day free REST FOR A CAUSE PASS HERE: https://www.crowdrise.com/parentliberationalliance

Teresa Graham Brett, author of Parenting for Social Change, and Lisa Reagan, editor of Kindred Media, talk with Dieundonne Allo, founder of the Alliance for Parent Education in Africa, about his experiences introducing South African parents and professionals to the possibilities of parenting for peace.  As Allo shares in this interview, the reception of APEA's programs is welcome, as "people are looking for solutions and alternatives to traditional dominator and abusive parenting practices and beliefs." 
You can read about APEA on the Parent Liberation Alliance's website, as PLA is the American partner of APEA. www.ParentLiberationAlliance.org

 Stay tuned for a transcript of this discussion on www.KindredMedia.org.

Conscious Parenting In Africa

In this interview with Darcia Narvaez, PhD, listeners discover the connections between the neurobiology of brain development in babies and the current ecological, social and cultural crises created by disconnected, brain damaged adults, a product of modern parenting practices and beliefs.  Narvaez is one of Kindred's most popular contributors and a new member of our international advisory board.  She is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame. Her recent book, Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom won the 2015 William James Book Award from the American Psychological Association. In 2016, she is organizing a conference on Sustainable Wisdom: Integrating Indigenous KnowHow for Global Flourishing. 

You can read her work on Kindred here: http://www.kindredmedia.org/author/darcia-narvaez-phd/

A transcript of this interview is available here: http://www.kindredmedia.org/creating-sustainable-humans-with-conscious-parenting-an-interview-with-darcia-narvaez-phd/

Creating Sustainable Humans With Conscious Parenting: An Interview With Darcia Narvaez, PhD

Robin Grille shares his journey with a homeschooling group in Hong Kong who have fought for Parenting for a Peaceful World to be translated into Catonese and distributed in China next year.  Robin shares his insight into cultural changes happening in China and around the world at this time.  He believes the "backlash" experience to the dying dominator and authoritarian models of parenting and government are breeding last gasp grabs for power that dominate mainstream media.  However, there is a New Story (www.KindredMedia.org)...
Robin covers his talk at the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative in England and his presentation at the Healthy Birth, Healthy Earth Sumit at Findhorn, Scotland last month.
Robin covers the gamut with insights from PFPW, guidance from his book Heart to Heart Parenting, and his admonition to all activists to not look for predictions of the future but to set their intentions for how they want it to be and work in that direction together.
This is a fun and epic interview with one of the most celebrated thought leaders of the conscious parenting movement.
Read Robin on Kindred here: http://kindredmedia.org/author/robin-grille/
Watch the Parenting for a Peaceful World Video Collection here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKSc66Q_SuJMxIq3ew_fg9jJO-H-4JVRZ
Take an Inner Child, Inner Wisdom Virtual Tour with Robin at the Parenting As A Hero's Journey website here: http://parentingasaherosjourney.com/robin-grille/
Visit Robin's website here: www.our-emotional-health.com

Robin Grille: Parenting For A Peaceful World Goes To China - And Lots More!

In Utero documentary filmmakers, Kathleen and Stephen Gyllenhaal, discuss the film's breakthrough year at film festivals resulting in its translation into ten languages and multiple awards, including the San Diego International Film Festival's Breakthrough Documentary Award in October 2016.

The documentary is set to be released for on-demand viewing on October 11, 2016.   In anticipation of the on-demand release, Kathleen and Stephen speak to some of the hardest questions they have faced from international audiences, including: Why is the film so dark? Should pregnant mother see it? Is it a pro-life film?

The filmmakers share the need to present the solid and multiple fields of science that all arrive at the same conclusion during the course of the film: womb ecology becomes world ecology.

About the film:
Through enlightening and oftentimes poignant interviews with experts and pioneers, IN UTERO paints a complex tapestry of the human experience from conception to birth. Tapping into cultural myths, popular movies, and technological trends, the film demonstrates how our experiences in utero preoccupy us throughout our lives.

Experts in the fast-growing field of epigenetics explain that we are not only our genes but a product of our environment as well, a proven fact that changes our perception of stress and exposures to the environment during pregnancy. The film looks at how these environmental effects are passed down through the generations through our genes, making it scientifically plausible that a traumatic event that affected your grandma could leave a mark on your genes.

Visit the In Utero website to find more resources, including screenings, of the film at www.inuterofilm.com.

A transcript of this interview will be posted on www.KindredMedia.org on October 11, 2016. 

Discover more about birth psychology at the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health at www.birthpsychology.com.

Quotes from the film:
“This is something that we’re just beginning to explore gene by gene. It’s not what genes you’re carrying, it’s what gets expressed. It’s fantastic. Because the idea of epigenetic change—based on exposure to the environment at different intervals—really provides the body with a way of continuously adapting to the environment. Bad environmental events cause change. Good environmental events cause change. And what you’ve got to do is just make sure that you have enough of the good events.” – Rachel Yehuda, Ph.D.

“What we see in infants exposed to stress in utero is we see reduced brain volume, reduced grey matter density…So if you are less dense in those regions, that suggests that there are less processors available. We also see reductions in hippocampal volume, and increase in amygdala volume. Disruption in those areas, disruption in structure or function of the amygdala is associated with higher risk for emotional psychopathology or neuropsychiatric illness.” – Moriah Thomason, Ph.D.

“What we’re not recognizing is that people are parenting and conceiving and carrying and birthing children under increasingly stressed conditions. Increasingly, it takes two people now to provide a living in this culture to families. And they’re doing so in the context of less support because one of the ravages of industrialization and globalization is the destruction of the
extended family, the tribe, the clan, the village, the neighborhood. Parents who are stressed have been shown not to be able to be as attuned with their infants and children as parents who are not stressed. Not their fault. Not because they do not love the child. Not because they’re not dedicated, devoted, committed. Simply because the stress effect impedes their ability to attune with their child…And that has an impact on brain development.” – Gabor Maté, M.D.

In Utero Documentary Filmmakers On

Thomas Verny, MD, shares his experience over 34 years of "ducking pies" presenting the science of birth psychology that, today, finds mainstream audiences through an award-winning documentary and international universities promoting Verny's original wisdom of the foundation of human wellness beginning at conception. Dr. Verny first presented his insights in the best selling and internationally acclaimed book, The Secret Life of the Unborn Child in 1982 and was recently featured in the award-winning documentary, In Utero, now available for on demand viewing.
In this interview, Dr. Verny shares the meaning behind his well-known quote, "Womb Ecology Becomes World Ecology" and his hope for continued social and public policy change to support pregnant mothers and babies.
You can find a transcript of this interview at www.KindredMedia.org.
Learn more about birth psychology at the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health, APPPAH, at www.BirthPsychology.com.
Visit Dr. Verny at www.TVernyMD.com

Ducking Pies Presenting Birth Psychology For 34 Years: An Interview With Thomas Verny, MD

Parenting in today's times is challenging parents everywhere.

This free, 55 minute download of, An introduction to Connection Parenting, by Pam Leo, is given to all parents who want to learn more about how to create a stronger connection with their children. After listening to what Pam shares, if you can, and if wish to, please donate whatever you can, to her new nonprofit initiative, The Book Fairy Pantry Project. 

Please go to BookFairyPantryProject.com to learn about the project and make a donation if it inspires you to help make sure ALL parents have books to read to their children, so all children can learn to read. Thank you.

You can also subscribe to the BFPP's newsletter to catch up with Pam on her travels presenting lectures on Books, Babies and Bonding, as well as read her work on Connection Parenting, poetry on BFPP, and more at: http://kindredmedia.org/author/pam-leo/

See Connection Parenting here: http://amzn.to/28KIdtn

Connection Parenting With Pam Leo: Parenting Through Love Instead Of Fear

The Conscious Parenting Movement, based on attachment science, neurobiolgy and brain development and founded organically by multiple pioneers and organizations over 30 years ago as a consciousness-raising movement, arrived at the United Nations this past February in the form of an international alliance of nonprofit and educational organizations under the banner of CEPP, Childhood and Early Parenting Principles.

In this interview with Valerie Unite, the founder of CEPP, the listener learns of the exciting networking and information exchanges currently taking place at the UN, the necessity of helping governments, cities and communities develop effective and cost-saving programs based on conscious parenting principles, and the plan going forward.

Visit and read about CEPP's work at www.cepprinciples.org.

This interview's transcript, as well as resources, can be viewed here:
http://kindredmedia.org/2017/05/conscious-parenting-movement-goes-un/

Conscious Parenting Movement Goes To United Nations

Dawn Thompson of Improving Birth (ImprovingBirth.org) and Lisa Reagan, editor of Kindred (KindredMedia.org), connect the dots between America's failed maternal health, the patriarchal medical model, the normalization of birth trauma, the #MeToo movement and the upcoming March for Moms in Washington, DC, on May 6, 2018.  Dawn and Lisa outline the problem, challenges and solutions to upending a patriarchal medical model whose missing core value is the human relationship between provider and mother.  

Find out more about the March for Moms here: https://improvingbirth.org/join-the-movement/

In this interview you will learn:

The Problem:

Listening to Mother's Survey 2013 - 59% said they had no choice in episiotomies and 23% said they were pressured to do other procedures or exams

Harvard research shows race bias leads to lower quality of care for black and Latino mothers. In the US, black mothers and their babies are four times more likely to die in and from childbirth complications

Research shows 1/3 of women experience birth trauma and of those 2/3 say it is relational, the hospital staff did not listen to them

700,000 cesareans a year are unnecessary

70% of labors are sped up

Medical model is not relation-based, authoritarian and patriarchal

Procedures are not science-based - episiotomies are an example

Challenges to Change:

Obstetrical violence has been normalized in a patriarchal medical model

Shared decision-making is a relational, and patriarchy is not relational

Just now holding an unaware patriarchal system accountable - Hw the Kim Turbin lawsuit was groundbreaking in naming her birth trauma the legal crime of "battery"

Women do not know they can speak up or how to speak up and are enculturated through patriarchy to believe their voices do not matter

Women, like Kim Turbin,  could be labeled postpartum if they complain

Power struggle form because doctors are trained to steer toward an outcome and not listen


Solutions:

Teach hospital staff and mothers relational skills

Educate the public that consent is not a piece of paper

Mother-Friendly Initiative's insight and goald: "Turning maternal health care into a conversation rather than a verdict"

#MeToo Influence is creating a watershed moment to address all forms of patriarchal oppression of women

March for Moms, #MeToo, Birth Trauma and Ending Medical Model Patriarchy

Deeply horrified by the American medical model's treatment of pregnant women and babies when she arrived in the United States in the 80s, British-trained midwife Jennie Joseph successfully worked to create an evidence-based model of prenatal care for women, especially women of color who are three to five times more likely to die in childbirth than white mothers. Her pioneering work includes providing human connection and empowering eduction, while also training mothers, fathers and extended family members to identify and arrest the cascade of interventions inside the hospital birth system that lead to complications and death. 

Jennie Joseph's interview with Kindred comes as the first annual Black Maternal Health Week launches from April 11-17, 2018, and March for Moms on Washington, DC, on May 6, 2018, prepares to demand the implementation of missing public policies and social safety nets to support mothers and babies found in most developed countries. As Jennie says in the interview, the only way forward now is grassroots movements of individuals and organizations acting collaboratively and intentionally as a consciousness-raising movement to save ourselves from an unyielding, capitalist and deadly medical system.

Read the transcript for this interview at www.KindredMedia.org.

Find Jennie Joseph at www.jenniejoseph.com

Find more information about the March for Moms at www.improvingbirth.org

Find more resources and information on Black Maternal Health Week at www.blackmamasmatter.org.

Midwife Jennie Joseph: Saving Ourselves from a Capitalist Medical Model

"MilkDrunk is to breastfeeding what The Vagina Monologues is to women's sexuality: a curtain-ripping revelation on a world hidden in plain sight. MilkDrunk's unflinchingly honesty, passion, humor and love bypasses our enculturated taboos and mythologies around birth, breasts and bonding as a brilliant, modern wisdom teaching with the potential to relieve future mothers and fathers from the burden of asking, 'Why didn't anyone tell me this?' O'Malley's play is timely and needed as the United States struggles to address its maternal health care system, lack of paid parental leave and pressure on unwitting new parents to face the Bio-Cultural Conflict in isolation." -- Lisa Reagan, Kindred

Listen to playwright and actor, Cathleen O'Malley, share insights into her new play, MilkDrunk, that traces a year in the life of a first time, full-time, exclusively breastfeeding mother. A frank, funny, and physical solo performance, Milkdrunk pulls back the (damp) curtain on childbirth, breastfeeding and what it means to be a mammal in 2018. It illuminates a path that is both universal and cloaked in infinite mystery—one littered with laughter, tears, and drops of Liquid Gold.

Cathleen is a theatre director, performer, writer, educator, voiceover artist, and creator of original work. She is a graduate of the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA), where she trained in Lecoq-based physical theatre, movement, mask and mime under the pedagogical direction of Thomas Prattki and Amy Russell. Cathleen has created and performed with companies regionally and abroad, including Akropolis Performance Lab, Relax Your Face (co-founder), Zany Umbrella Circus, Touchstone Theatre, Talespinner Children's Theatre, and with inmates of the Washington State Corrections Center for Women through Freehold's Engaged Theatre Project. From 2013-2017, Cathleen was the Director of Audience Engagement and Media Relations at Cleveland Public Theatre and was recently seen onstage in a workshop production of her whimsical original play Noonday, created with Lauren Joy Fraley and Renee Schilling. Cathleen holds an MFA from Naropa University.

MilkDrunk, A Play: The "Vagina Monologues" for Breastfeeding Premiers

It almost seems magical when you begin to learn about all the benefits of breastmilk.  Find out why breastmilk provides lifelong benefits for little ones.

Listen to award-winning neuroscience researcher, Darcia Narvaez, PhD, share foundational insights into the Evolved Nest.

Visit the nonprofit initiative at www.EvolvedNest.org.

About Darcia Narvaez, PhD

Darcia Narvaez is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame. Her prior careers include professional musician, classroom music teacher, business owner, seminarian and middle school Spanish teacher. Dr. Narvaez’s current research explores how early life experience influences societal culture, wellbeing and sociomoral character in children and adults. She integrates neurobiological, clinical, developmental and education sciences in her theories and research about human nature and human development.

She publishes extensively on moral development, parenting and education. Recently she has been studying the Evolved Nest and how it influences wellbeing, sociality and morality.

She hosts interdisciplinary conferences at the University of Notre Dame regarding early experience and human development (the talks and/or powerpoints are available online). In 2016, she organized a conference on Sustainable Wisdom: Integrating Indigenous KnowHow for Global Flourishing (talks available online).

She is the author or editor of numerous books and articles. Read her bio and blogs here: kindredmedia.org/author/darcia-narvaez-phd/

About the Evolved Nest

Every animal has a nest for its young that matches up with the maturational schedule of the offspring (Gottlieb, 1997). Humans too! The Evolved Nest (or Evolved Developmental Niche; EDN) refers to the nest for young children that humans inherit from their ancestors. It's one of our adaptations, meaning that it helped our ancestors survive. Most characteristics of the evolved nest emerged with social mammals more than 30 million years ago.

Humans are distinctive in that babies are born highly immature (only 25% of adult-sized brain at full-term birth) and should be in the womb another 18 months to even resemble newborns of other species! As a result, the brain/body of a child is highly influenced by early life experience.

Multiple epigenetic effects occur in the first months and years based on the timing and type of early experience. Humanity's evolved nest was first identified by Melvin Konner (2005) as the "hunter-gatherer childhood model" and includes breastfeeding 2-5 years, nearly constant touch, responsiveness to baby's needs, multiple responsive adult caregivers, free play with multiple-aged playmates, positive social support for mom and baby.

Calling these components the Evolved Nest or Evolved Developmental Niche, Narvaez and colleagues add to the list soothing perinatal experience (before, during, after birth) and a positive, welcoming social climate. All these are characteristic of the type of environment in which the human genus lived for 99% of its existence. Below are publications and a powerpoint about the evolved nest.

Why does the evolved nest matter? Early years are when virtually all neurobiological systems are completing their development. They form the foundation for the rest of life, including getting along with others, sociality and morality.