Natural Beginnings - Holistic Health, Bodywork & Doula Services

08/08/2026

Last weekend I started the Internal Pelvic Floor Release Work course, spending 3 days with the wise and hilarious Midwife & Birthwork Teacher

I have been doing internal pelvic floor release for women since I learned Holistic Pelvic Care from Tammy Lynn Kent (US) in 2018. But this course has already given me a deeper understanding of the anatomy of the pelvic floor which has been pretty cool!

Pictured is one of the exercises we did to help learn which bones, muscles and ligaments connect to each other.

This work can make such a difference to women’s pelvic pain and their births. Can’t wait to learn and practice more in the next 3 modules. Next module is in 3 weeks…

01/08/2026

🤍 Feeling prepared for birth can make all the difference. Natural Beginnings - Holistic Health, Bodywork & Doula Services offers private holistic childbirth education in the comfort of your own home, with sessions tailored to your pregnancy, your questions and your needs.

It is a lovely option for parents wanting something more personal, flexible and evidence based than a standard group class, with support that feels warm, practical and genuinely helpful.

With 20 years as a birth doula and 15 years as a childbirth educator, Virginia brings a wealth of experience to every session, helping parents feel more calm, informed and confident ahead of birth.

Here are some of the topics we may go through, depending on time constraints and your individual needs:

🤍Fears and beliefs around birth
🤍Antenatal testing – pros, cons, preparation
🤍Diet and natural remedies for pregnancy
🤍Birth planning & Birth Mapping
🤍Pelvic mapping
🤍Common medical interventions
🤍Labour signs
🤍Hormones and physiology of birth, and how to use them to your advantage
🤍Pain management techniques
🤍How your partner can best support you during pregnancy, birth and postnatally (without you having to nag!)
🤍Positions during labour
🤍Natural remedies for labour
🤍Techniques to help balance the pelvis and help get baby into the best position for birth (“Spinning Babies” and Optimal Maternal Positioning)
🤍Placental birth
🤍Caesarean preparation
🤍Newborn hospital procedures
🤍Life with a newborn – breastfeeding, nappies, co-sleeping, babywearing

You can book one session or a full series of three, depending on what feels right for you.

💛 MOTS Special Offer - Mention MOTS and pay in cash to receive 10% off.

📧 [email protected]
📞 0415 683 074

🔗 Find out more here: https://naturalbeginnings.com.au/private-holistic-childbirth-education/

31/07/2026

🤬

The Australian investigative TV show, 4 Corners, has released a new episode called “Duped: Food Exposed” on the topic of truth in the production, supply chains, marketing, labelling, selling, safety, and eating of our foods.

In short, they found a huge amount of food fraud, which is costing Australians $3 BILLION per year.

Some examples of food fraud and other issues in the investigation includes:

• 25% of processed tomato products, such as tomato paste or puree, passata etc were found to have not been grown in the locations claimed on the label. Leggo’s tomato paste had a big problem, with 80% showing they were produced in China, despite the company’s labelling and marketing suggesting they were “Australian grown”. Being from China is a concern because of their apparent unregulated use of agricultural chemicals on crops, as well as from forced labour on tomato farms. Other brands and products also failed forensic testing of their location of origin compared to their marketing or labelling.
• Even Italian branded tomato products being sold in Australian supermarkets (Coles, Woolies, Aldi) use slave labour in their farming, harvesting or production.
• 27% of brands of turmeric were found to have been diluted or adulterated, or contaminated by iron oxide in a major spice brand (Hoyt’s), or lead in some brands and products. Hoyt’s had also previously been fined by the ACCC after their oregano herb products were found to be bulked up with olive leaves! Other turmeric brands were bulked up with other materials.
• Many “honey” products in Australia is adulterated with sugar syrups.
• Many egg brands were found to be labelled as from “cage free” chicken farms, when they were not, especially some Woolworths products.
• 33% of prawns failed country of origin testing. Origin testing of fish products was even worse.
• On average, one packaged food product per week is pulled off supermarket shelves in Australia, due to an undeclared allergen, which was almost always found from a customer with the allergy and not from the food regulators.
• Some “dairy-free” labelled products were found to contain dairy, such as Cocobella and RawC coconut products.
• Food scientists are paid to develop processed foods which taste, smell, and feel good using chemicals and additives which can be harmful to your health.
• Marketing terms such as “100% natural” and others have no regulation and are not accurate or even true.
• Highly processed and packaged foods that can be 60% sugar or higher, are specifically marketed as healthy foods for kids.
• Various food rating systems such as the Health Star Rating is flawed as they are based on a ridiculous formula calculation which is influenced by the food industry companies to hide issues in processed and packaged foods, and to pretend that foods are healthy so people buy them, when they are not healthy at all.
• The food regulators are almost useless, and the penalties for breaches are not much more than a slap on the wrist, and don’t stop the same companies doing the same things again.
• Foods are not the only substances which can be contaminated or affected, but alcoholic drinks too. Every sample of alcoholic spirits exceeded their methanol alcohol content, some by over 9x times more than the allowed limit of methanol. Some people have died from too-high methanol content in alcoholic drinks.

Other countries have food fraud organisations and investigations, but Australia does not.

I highly recommend that you watch this Part 1 of the Duped show on ABC iView for free! The link to this show can be found here:

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners/series/2026/video/NC2603H024S00

Sadly, we tend to believe the labelling on foods products, or the ingredients lists on these products. Two million Australians have food allergies, which makes accurate food labelling critical. When 66% of foods and drinks in Australian supermarkets are “ultra-processed” it’s a big concern, as you can’t really trust the labelling, marketing, or ingredients.

Better to reduce or avoid such processed and packaged products and only buy FRESH foods as meats and vegetables, and make your own meals instead!

Stay healthy!

References:

ABC. (2026). Duped: Food Exposed (Part 1). Retrieved 29th July 2026 from https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners/series/2026/video/NC2603H024S00

29/07/2026

So interesting! 🤔

27/07/2026

Congratulations to Tamara and Josh on the birth of Gilbert at home last Monday 20th July.

Tamara’s waters broke and she went into labour a few weeks early. A “fast and furious” 3 hour labour ensued and baby was born into the birth pool in the loungeroom, with some assistance from the legendary Jacqui Wood.

Given he was early and a bit on the small side, it was decided they go into hospital for observation after the birth, just to be on the safe side.

It was lovely to catch up again today back at home, debrief the birth and our journey together, and go through some strategies for feeding, co-sleeping and parenting.

I was gifted the biggest, most beautiful bunch of native flowers - so lovely to have more flowers in the house and them being to celebrate my role in a birth (instead of sympathy for the recent deaths in my family!).

Thanks for inviting me into your pregnancy journey and sacred birthing space Tamara and Josh! It was a privilege to get to know you both and be on your birthing team!

26/07/2026

Congratulations to Jessica and Andrew on the birth of Leo at home in the birth pool on 6th July.

Jessica’s prior homebirth ended in an emergency transfer due to HELLP syndrome after birth, which is a condition that leads to dangerously high blood pressure.

So during pregnancy I recommended Jessica follow guidance from the Brewer Pregnancy diet with high protein, calories,
and salt to expand her blood volume, and gave her some herbs during pregnancy to support her liver function to help with prevention.

After a quick labour and birth at home, this time Jessica’s blood pressure remained stable and her postpartum was a much smoother journey.

Nothing could have forewarned Jess about the conditions which led to her hospitalisation after birth first time round, but with good diet and the right herbs, prevention was possible for her subsequent birth.

Sometimes birth doesn’t end in the way we planned or hope for, but never let a previous diagnosis stand in the way of trying for the birth of your dreams!

It was a pleasure getting to know Jess and Andrew and an honour to be present for the birth of Leo. 🥰

21/07/2026

Study here:
https://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(23)00926-2/fulltext

Doulas cannot guarantee birth outcomes, no one can.

However, research shows that working with a doula reduces the likelihood of a c-section.

Some c-sections are absolutely medically indicated. But based on our high c-section rates, we know that many are not medically necessary.

A meta-analysis published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology stated:

"Pregnant patients supported by doulas services are 68% less likely to undergo CD than those receiving standard prenatal care, more likely to have IAVD, and have no difference in epidural rates. Additional research is needed to elucidate the impact of doula services on neonatal outcomes. Nonetheless, doula support services represent a promising intervention to decrease the high rates of caesarean section in the United States."

A 68% reduced risk of c-section is absolutely statistically significant. It means compared to those without doula support, they are less likely to have a c-section (some will still have medically necessary ones or even opt for elective).

When a c-section does occur even with doula support, many parents report having a better understanding of why it became necessary AND feel more like they were active participants in the decision-making process.

Study linked below.

👇🏽 Does this study surprise you?