Blog - Barbara Buckner Suárez

Retelling & Reclaiming Birth

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | maternal mental health

This week we recognize Maternal Mental Health. I have worked in the Maternity Field for 20+ years, and I”m pleased that we’re so much farther ahead in recognizing the importance of maternal mental health and the implications it has for the birthing person, the...

A Legacy of Love

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | family, legacy, love

I’ve just returned from a 10-day trip to visit my parents. Technically, I was doing full-time “elder care.” It’s hard for me to consider my parents in that way… Elders, much less in need of full-time care. But at 81 & 88, my parents are absolutely the...

Birth=Improv? Yes, and… No

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | birth, vulnerability

Recently, I took part in an “Intro to Improv” class with about 25 other nervous-but-willing adults — none of whom had ever done improv before in their lives! Nevertheless, we all showed up, ready to fully engage with one another in this new experience. For those of...

Bringing the War Home: PTSD & Childbirth

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | PTSD, Veteran's Day

Today is the nationally recognized holiday in the United States known as “Veteran’s Day.” There are lots of American flags being flown, and parades in big cities and small towns, lots of “Never Forget!” and “Thank you for your service!” statements being...

No “Training” Needed

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | parenting, partners

I read this article from the New York Times and let me first acknowledge all of the really great things the author writes about as a new Momma: the need she has to ask her partner for more help, the attempts she makes to encourage her partner to show up and...

Mothers Make It All Happen

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | mothering

“Mothers… We make it all happen, don’t we?” This is what the young, pregnant Momma pumping my gas said to me this morning. (Don’t judge! It’s a law in Oregon. It’s actually illegal to pump your own gas. For real.) I shook my head and answered, “Yep, we sure do.”...

Induction at 39 Weeks? You Might Want to Read This First…

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | induction

Maybe you’ve read a few commentaries (or at least a few headlines!) about a major study called the ARRIVE Trial that came out about a month ago in the New England Journal of Medicine. In that study, the authors concluded that there was a lowered risk of Cesarean...

You’re the Peanut Butter to My Jelly

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | milestones, mothering

(There’s a reason I haven’t posted in awhile… It would appear that getting one’s oldest child prepped and ready for her first year in college can actually eat up a LOT of one’s time. Time that used to be devoted to one’s blog! Ahhh,...

Commitment

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | Becoming Us

When you make a commitment to someone else, that’s HUGE. Sometimes I’m amazed at how much time and energy people put into the planning of a wedding, commitment ceremony, or party to celebrate their love — and how very little time and energy goes into what happens the...

“Ikigai” — My Reason For Being

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | calling, work

Have you ever heard the term “Ikigai”? While you might be tempted to think it’s pronounced, “ICKy guy” its actually pronounced, “I-kuh-guy” and it’s a Japanese concept that means “a reason for being.” I hadn’t heard this term before today. A friend posted on FB an...