Where do I even start! Working with Joanne and her prenatal BodyTalk package was absolutely wonderful. Through BodyTalk, yoga, sleep education class, loads of information and hands on help during labor i felt prepared and informed throughout my pregnancy and the delivery of our son. Joanne worked with both myself and the baby throughout the pregnancy to make sure we were both safe and healthy and connected so when the time came for delivery we were working together! My pregnancy was easy and when heartburn and hip pain did pop up it was quickly resolved. We have also had postpartum BodyTalk sessions that have helped me with my postpartum anxiety and depression and has helped our son be so content and happy and easy going! I seriously would highly recommend working with Joanne throughout your pregnancy, delivery and into postpartum. It truly helps you feel empowered and enjoy every step of the journey! ~ Rebecca Dyck- Saskatoon, Canada
At 34 years old, my husband (42) and I were never overly sure we wanted children. I was always okay with the thought of kids, but hated the idea of being pregnant. I felt pregnancy was going to take away everything I enjoyed, specifically sports and my mobility. I felt a depression coming on even before I was pregnant. Since it can really take 5-6 months to start showing for a first baby, I knew I needed something to help me connect with my tiny human I was creating. I initially went to BodyTalk to help me figure out what was going on with my irregular cycle. Which actually had to do with my resistance in getting pregnant. As soon as we worked through this I actually fell pregnant very quickly. I knew BodyTalk was going to be the best option for me during pregnancy. Specifically in the first few months when I was tired, sick, and was starting to scale back on a few of the things I loved. BodyTalk help me communicate with my baby. It encouraged me to keep going, be happy, and enjoy the little flutters, hiccups and kicks. My baby always knew when Joanne was speaking to her as she would constantly move the whole time. It was a surreal experience. I felt extremely connected to my daughter, something I would not have felt without BodyTalk. ~ Alison Henschel- Saskatoon, Canada
My first body talk session I was looking for help with nausea, new emotions, and pregnancy discomfort. During the session Joanne also was able to connect with my unborn baby, and tell me many neat things about her, before I knew she was a she. The experience was beautiful and did help with nausea and hormones. I felt physically and emotionally lighter after BodyTalk. There was also a greater connection with me and my child. I felt more ready to be a mom. ~ Amanda Holowachuck, Northern Saskatchewan
When I found out I was pregnant with Ivy it was completely unexpected and unplanned. I was not ready to be pregnant as I was still recovering emotionally and mentally from my caesarean with Hazel. Eventually I did wrap my head around the fact that we were adding to our family. I even started to look forward to possibly having the natural birth that I wanted to have with Hazel.
Shortly after this perspective change I found out that I was alloimmunized. What this meant was that Hazel’s blood had mixed with mine during our caesarean and caused my blood to develop Fya antibodies against the Fya antigens in her blood. This meant that if Ivy had the same blood type as Hazel did then my blood would attack her blood inevitably. This also meant that I could not safely have the natural birth that I wanted. It felt like my mental state of not wanting this baby was manifesting as a physical state as well.
So I reached out to Joanne hoping that Body talk would be able to help us as it had in the past. I felt it was important to have in person sessions in this situation. My first session was very fulfilling and enlightening though I remember more of the emotions that I experienced than the words and subjects that Joanne spoke of. Every subsequent session brought light to things that I was unconscious of that needed healing. When Joanne’s attention fell on Ivy, she would respond every time by becoming more active than normal (she was a very active baby to begin with)- it was like she knew that she was helping her. I always felt rejuvenated and more connected to both Ivy and my body after a body talk session. As my pregnancy progressed I felt better and more excited about meeting the new little being growing inside me. This pregnancy was actually becoming enjoyable and exciting!
Body talk also helped me to accept the curveballs the alloimmunization kept throwing my way. Before my diagnosis I was planning on keeping ultrasounds to a minimum- 2 tops. We ended up having around 15 ultrasounds. I’m fairly certain that body talk helped us to avoid an intrauterine blood transfusion when one of Ivy’s ultrasounds showed possible anemia. After a body talk session, the ensuing ultrasound thankfully showed better results. I ended up having to be induced at 36 weeks just to be safe. For most alloimmunized pregnancies it was recommended not to go past 36 weeks as the scans that were used to detect anemia were much less accurate after 34 weeks. I pushed to have Ivy remain in my cozy womb for as long as they felt it was still safe.
The scans were quite erratic around 34 weeks so I thought it best to accept their recommendation of induction at 36 weeks. We had to get a couple of steroid shots that would accelerate Ivy’s lung-development then I went in for induction at 35+5.
Thanks to one last Body talk session a couple days before my appointment I was in a very good place going into my induction. It took two days but eventually I went into labour and delivered a mostly healthy premature but 7 pound baby. Ivy needed some help breathing, she was very jaundiced (another effect of the alloimmunization) and she did have a partial blood transfusion at 1 day old. All in all she only spent 6 days in the Nicu. I also had a successful VBAC which was something I really wanted but wasn’t expecting to actually happen as it was so early and the induction was so unnatural.
I’m thankful for Joanne and Body talk for giving this potentially very complicated and scary pregnancy an incredibly happy ending. Ivy is an absolute blessing. -- Emily Morosini, Saskatoon, Canada
My name is Milani Lau. My husband and I are first time parents to our sweet boy James. As first time parents, we had been receiving more advice, books, opinions and tips than we could ever use, especially because they often seemed to contradict each other. We had been trying to find a more natural way to help our little one sleep better, because as my mom said “ he should be sleeping through the night. "You all slept through the night by 4 months.” We didn’t like the idea of letting him cry it out, and even as we expressed these feelings and tried to defend it to our advice givers, we struggled to find evidence to support how we felt in our hearts. It broke my heart the one or two times I tried some cry it out methods. When we were offered the chance to work with Joanne we were a little unsure at first. James
had been sleeping okay, with up to 3 hour spurts of rest, and a fairly predictable schedule, but we were still so exhausted and accepted the offer for help. I am so glad we did. Joanne does a great job at providing scientific evidence, explaining how various factors affect baby and his sleep patterns, and also in listening to our needs to meet us where we are at. She provided so much valuable information that helped us understand our baby- and to better support him and his needs and offered great suggestions on helping support his sleep, so we could get a little more rest. I feel more confident as his mother inhelping him sleep. I understand better what his needs are and how I can better take care of myself and him. Changing my mindset and expectations have helped me undo a couple generations worth of false ideas that babies need to sleep through the night by a certain point. I don’t need to let them cry it out,
and no, I can’t spoil my child by supporting and helping him sleep better. He still doesn’t sleep through the night, and now I know I shouldn’t expect him to (but if he ever does at this young age, then great!).
What I have gained, has been far greater than sleeping through the entire night. On top of changing expectations and becoming more educated, Joanne also gave great resources for helping baby have better (and sometimes more) sleep and also for us too! I would recommend Joanne because not only does she have practical explanations, but she also isn’t pushy or shaming. In fact, when we expressed what we were comfortable with trying, she met us where we were at! During her class, I learned so
much, and finally saw a combination of all the things I had been hearing and how they all played out together. There was so much great information and it was wonderful to learn and become educated on baby sleep. In our consultations, she focused on helping us change ourselves so we could help our baby, and then had additional outside things that could help such as changing the environment, or elements of our sleep routine. I think it’s a great inside out approach! Thank you so much Joanne for your help!
Posts my BodyTalk treatments have been tagged in:
Holy mother of.... Just got out of a body talk session with Joanne. Crazy crazy crazy. I feel a million times lighter , and centered. Focused.
She said things I have not told anyone so there is no way she would know. And helped me release them. Absolutely amazing Joanne.
I had my first one on Tuesday night!! I was so surprised I thought it would be BS but WOW I can't wait to go back!! It was very enlightening and really helped me work through some emotions I had been storing away and not dealing with.
Loved my prenatal sessions!
Okay so body talk is amazing!! Not at all what I thought it would be. I was very skeptical going in and now I can't wait until I can go back again.
Its quite the process. I'm still feeling it out, and honestly don't want to say it works, but she keeps hitting on these things I just can't deny. She's slowly making a believer out of me too, and I'm the biggest skeptic there is. Honestly, I have felt as much change in two sessions with Joanne as a year with my psychologist....
