18. Christian Healing from Birthing Trauma with Catholic coach Brigid Tebaldi

Have you had a traumatic experience after giving birth? If yes, how did you heal from that experience?

Brigid Tebaldi shares her transformative journey from birth trauma to becoming a beacon of hope for mothers navigating similar paths. Her creation of Loreto Wellness is a tribute to her faith-driven healing process, inspired by the Litany of Loreto, and the power of maternal instincts. Brigid opens up about the elusive concept of a "perfect birth," guiding mothers to find beauty in their unique birthing experiences, no matter how unpredictable. Through her story, listeners will uncover how faith can serve as a cornerstone in reclaiming inner peace and resilience in motherhood.

Explore the profound impact of gratitude journaling and personal reflection as tools for healing. Brigid delves into how these practices can help mothers transform birthing trauma into a narrative of resilience and beauty. Even if journaling feels daunting, Brigid offers gentle encouragement to start with messy drafts, embracing whatever mode of expression feels most comfortable for processing emotions and reframing experiences.

Community and faith emerge as vital pillars in the journey to healing and resilience. Brigid introduces the "Birth Redemption Blueprint" workshop, a supportive resource for mothers seeking to heal emotionally and reclaim confidence after difficult births. This episode is a heartfelt invitation to mothers to connect with their community, embrace the strength found in positive affirmations and Scripture, and nurture their relationship with God. Brigid's compassionate call to action encourages seeking help when needed, fostering joy and strength in motherhood through communal and spiritual support.

If you are in need of mental health support, please consult your doctor.

To Connect with Brigid Tebaldi:
https://www.loretowellness.com
https://www.instagram.com/@loretowellness

Connect with Sheila:
- Instagram
- X / Twitter
- Website
https://veilandarmour.com
https://veilandarmour.buzzsprout.com
https://www.sheilanonato.com

Please let us know how you liked this episode, and our podcast overall. Do you have a favourite episode? Did something that a guest said resonate with you? Please share with us at veilandarmour@gmail.com We will read reader comments on a future podcast! 

Please pray for our show, that means a lot to us! If you find value in it and believe it warrants a five-star review, please kindly take 30 seconds now and rate our show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to our show. IThank you and God bless!

Chapters

• 0:04 Mindful Motherhood
• 15:18 Healing Through Journaling and Reflection
• 25:32 Building Resilience Through Community
• 30:32 Birthing and Healing Support Discussion

Transcript

Sheila Nonato: 0:04

Hello and Welcome to the Veil and Armour podcast. This is your host, Sheila Nonato. I'm a stay-at-home mom and a freelance Catholic journalist, Seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the inspiration of Our Lady. I strive to tell stories that inspire, illuminate and enrich the lives of Catholic women, to help them in living out our vocation of raising the next generation of leaders and saints.

Co-host: 0:27

Please join us every week on the Veil and Armour podcast, where stories come alive through a journalist's lens and mother's heart.

Sheila Nonato: 0:39

Welcome to this week's episode of Veil and Armour, where we will be looking ahead at the month of the Holy Rosary in October. Our guest this week is Brigid Tebaldi, a certified women's health coach specializing in helping women heal from trauma after birth. Brigid was inspired to begin coaching women in their journey towards a holistic and Christ-centered healing after a traumatic birth experience, and her inspiration came after praying the rosary with her family and praying the litany of Our Lady of Loreto. Let's Brigid's story story. Welcome, Brigid, to Veil and Armour. Thank you for joining us today and we're honoured to have you here. Can we start off with a prayer, please? Yes, please.

Brigid Tebaldi: 1:22

Okay.

Sheila Nonato: 1:22

Did you want to lead or Sure I?

Brigid Tebaldi: 1:24

can? Yeah, okay, yes, please, okay. Did you want to lead, or sure I can? Yeah, okay, yeah, sure, okay, all right, In the Name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Hail mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen, Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sheila Nonato: 1:48

Thank you very much for that. I think it's very appropriate to start off with that, since we're going to be talking about motherhood and, specifically, birthing and the experience of birthing. Sometimes it is not as peaceful, but I just want to introduce you first to our listeners and viewers. So you're a wife and mother of five dedicated to guiding mothers through their birth journey with grace and strength. Brigid champions holistic, joyful birthing experiences, encouraging women to honor their maternal instincts and embrace divine guidance. She is a certified women's health coach from the Integrative Women Health Institute and an experienced fertility awareness coach. Brigid specializes in helping women heal from birth trauma and reclaim their inner peace. Her compassionate approach aids mothers in processing difficult experiences, fostering resilience and cultivating a stronger sense of self. When she's not supporting mothers, Brigid cherishes moments with her family on their farm, whether it's watching her children ride bikes, playing with their horses or losing herself in a good book. Welcome, Brigid. So tell us first the name Loreto Wellness. You were mentioning. It has something to do with Our Lady.

Brigid Tebaldi: 3:03

Yes, definitely. So this business was something that was on my heart for a long time, but I had no idea anything about it, like I didn't. I just knew that, like I was being called to do something. And one day I remember like vividly I was sitting in a joke, it's like my prayer chair.

Brigid Tebaldi: 3:19

I was sitting in my prayer chair, we were saying our Rosary chair, we were saying our rosary and we finished up with the Litany of Loreto after that, which we do sometimes, especially if we do, like the 54 day Novena. And so we were saying it and I got to the point in the litany when it said cause of our joy, and all of a sudden it was just like oh, I'm supposed to name it Loretto Wellness, because mary found, like her sainthood, which she already had, but she became the mother of God by doing such basic things, even as a child, where she was helping, she was serving willingly, she folded laundry, she washed floors, made food, did everything like that. And again, she did it with such this reverent heart. And that's just what we as mothers are called to do, however imperfectly we do it I know I definitely do Again, we're just called to live like her. So the idea that we can imitate her through this litany of Loretto again just becoming saints in the simplest ways in our homes really resonated with me.

Sheila Nonato: 4:29

Wow. I love the connection and how it has blossomed into a business helping other mothers. So in terms of, I guess, the birthing experience, everyone has their unique birthing experience but I guess people can have the idea of a perfect birth. Right, tell me about is there such a thing and how do we change our mindset about that so that it can help us sort of manage our expectations about our birthing experience? Is there a perfect birth?

Brigid Tebaldi: 5:09

Yeah, so theoretically there might be. But no, because in birth you can. You can set yourself up perfectly Like you can do all the education, you can have all the knowledge, you can eat all the good foods, do all the right exercise, but you can't control everything. It's just like life, right? So if you have just think of a child, like you can have that child do everything right most of the time and thinking that they're going to turn out, they're going to be perfect all the time, and kids are kids are never perfect all the time, even if you like attempt to be the best all the time.

Brigid Tebaldi: 5:40

But the same as with birth again, you can set yourself up for perfection and it's never going to happen because we're a fallen people and, um, it's just. Things can happen. That doesn't mean that you can't have beautiful, wonderful births, but is there ever such thing as a perfect birth? I think the only perfect birth was probably the birth of Jesus, because Mary is the only perfect or like, sinless person aside from Jesus. So we can definitely have beautiful, wonderful, amazing births, for sure, and like I've had them, so like I'm saying that from experience. But we cannot control everything and that's one of the big things that we need to learn is that, again, we can't control everything, so all we can do is surrender, try our best and, again, just put it all in God's hands.

Sheila Nonato: 6:32

Yes, the surrender and putting it in God's hands that sometimes that is difficult, because for myself I'm talking about myself I like to control, I like to oh, yes, I got to direct everything, but you know I'm I got to direct everything, but you know, I'm just speaking from experience here, so hopefully it can help other mothers as well. I did have yeah, I did have that perfect idea of birth. I did suffer a loss, so I was very conscious of everything. So I did have a birth plan, I had a doula, I did have an OB as well, and I thought, okay, everything's set. I was, only I was eating a lot of kale. It was that time when people were saying kale is the new beef. Anyway, I, you know so, but things happened in a way I didn't expect I did. I did manage to be able to sort of exert my my agency, I guess, in terms of what I wanted in terms of medications, so I was able to have quote unquote a natural birth. It was hard, though, and painful, and things did not go as well. I was sometimes not able to raise my voice about certain things. So I'm looking at your website and the brochure about certain things. So I'm looking at your website and the brochure do you call it a brochure? Sort of a blueprint, I would say from pain to peace.

Sheila Nonato: 7:53

Now there are these steps and the foundation. The first foundation is embrace your emotions. So why is it important? Because when I, when I was experiencing it, I was experiencing a lot of emotions, to be honest, because after birth, right it's, it's a's, a it's, it's a whole new experience. It, you know, it's something you've never. If it's your first time as a first-time mother, it's something you've never experienced. And so there are all these conflicting emotions, but in the foundation, your first foundation, you recommend we embrace our emotions. Why is that so important?

Brigid Tebaldi: 8:23

Yeah. So, and this is embrace this document that we're speaking of specifically is to for those of you who may have had a difficult birth experience, and it doesn't even have to be like a super traumatic one, but again like, if things happen that you were like I didn't want that or something like that. That is who this is for, and the importance of embracing your emotions Sorry, if you're hearing Hugo right now. He wanted to say something, not a problem.

Brigid Tebaldi: 8:50

The importance of embracing your emotions comes from the fact that if you don't acknowledge what has happened to you or what you did experience in that moment, things are just going to keep spiraling. So if you just kind of shut the door to it and are like it was fine and my baby's healthy, it's fine, you never know whenever that closet that you just shoved full of stuff is going to break open, right. So it's super, super important for you to go through those emotions again, which is super hard, but it's really important, and it's important to do that with somebody, because what that person will do, if they have this skill, is they will validate what it is that you went through in this way. That doesn't make you the martyr or, like the practitioner, this terrible person. They just validate what it is that you felt.

Brigid Tebaldi: 9:44

So, whether that is like you're feeling anger, shame, guilt, whatever they can reflect that back to you in a way that you can be like, oh, maybe I shouldn't. Like, yeah, those things, I felt that, but maybe I don't need to actually feel that way, like maybe I can reframe it so that I can see the good in it. So it's not that you're forgetting what you felt, but again, it's just acknowledging what you felt, whatever those emotions might be, recognizing and validating them and then figuring out, using these Christ-centered strategies to help you understand why God allowed you to feel those things. So, again, it's just a little bit of a different way of thinking about it, but it's really important because, again, if you just shut the shove, them all in a closet, you never know whenever they're going to just spill out versus if you take the time to unpack and to pack in a way that's going to be helpful and that allows your brain to process these things, it's going to pay off so much better in the future.

Sheila Nonato: 10:47

Yes, and it's. I love how you, in your document, you had you know, specifically for Christian women, for God-fearing women, that there are these, as you mentioned, christ-centered coping strategies, that you had prayers for emotional healing. You also have scripture passages for comfort and then you have techniques for using prayer and meditation. Can you tell me a little bit? You mentioned three things daily prayer, deep breathing and gratitude journaling. Can you give us some tips for a mother who you know? Let's say, yeah, she has gone through something. Maybe it's recent, maybe it's years ago, but it's still lingering. How do these three things prayer, breathing, gratitude journaling how will this help us and what's a practical way to approach this?

Brigid Tebaldi: 11:37

Yeah I want to touch on. I'm going to actually go to the point where you said whether it was years ago, because two weeks ago I had a conversation with a mom whose daughter was 22 years old and the mom came to me because she said she was still feeling the effects of it and she just like she couldn't put words to it, but she was like just something isn't right and every time I think about it I just keep going back to like her daughter's birthday. So we kind of unpacked it a little bit. And that's exactly what I'm talking about, where it's like if you don't process what happened, it will just, as you know, like your body holds the score right, so it's just going to keep compounding and compounding and compounding until finally one day your body's like I can't have this much trauma and stress stored in my body anymore and I need to get rid of it. And if you do it in a healthy way, that's awesome, that's going to increase your brain's resilience, that's going to again improve relationships. But if you do it in an unhealthy way to release it, you never know what might come from that. So, as far as the three techniques, daily prayer is obviously essential because having our relationship with God is going to again.

Brigid Tebaldi: 12:48

If you're coming and listening to this podcast and assuming that you love Jesus and having that relationship is so vital, because, if you think about it, if you ever have a relationship with somebody and you never talk to them, and then maybe like once a year, you're like, hey, how are you? And then it's kind of awkward because you're like, oh, I'm good, but I've been waiting for you to call me, or I tried to call you and you never returned my calls. And then you're like, oh right, so it's vital to keep that steady line of communication so that you can tell God what you're feeling. He can help you manage emotions and go through different situations. And this doesn't have to be like a set aside, an hour or anything. If you can, that is awesome.

Brigid Tebaldi: 13:30

I personally just know that I can't seem to get that done with five kids. I would love to, but I just can't seem to find one hour where I can. Even if I wake up at five, somehow everybody knows that I'm awake and then they all wake up with me. So what I do is I take little pockets of time throughout the day where, say, I'm washing dishes. As I'm washing dishes, I just talk to God or if I'm I don't know, getting the baby to sleep instead of scrolling my phone, which I admittedly still do. I try to pray a little bit beforehand.

Brigid Tebaldi: 14:03

So just little pockets like that are really great so that you can enter into that relationship, so that every day, multiple times a day, you're just keeping that communication line open and having chats brain, which then, if your brain gets oxygen, everything just works better, versus if you're taking like shorter, more shallow breaths, you're not getting that really deep oxygen up into your brain and then that leads to a whole cascade of other things that aren't going to function well as in addition to that. So by breathing and feeling your chest open up, feeling your belly expand as you take a breath, that's going to really again allow you that space, even if it just takes a second or two, it's going to allow you that space to just be present in the moment. So, again, just taking that deep breath and then exhaling, it's one or two seconds, but you have all of the physiological effects that happen with again the oxygen increase and everything like that, but then you also just have that space and the mental and emotional break so that you can reset for that second or two. And then the last one, the gratitude journaling. This one is really important and it doesn't have to be like you actually sit down with a journal. Important and it doesn't have to be like you actually sit down with a journal. This could just be like send a voice note to somebody or use voice to text to just get it out, where it's like you just find something that you're grateful for, whether that be in your life, whether that be about your body, whatever it is, and it could be something little Like.

Brigid Tebaldi: 15:41

I think the example I gave I gave a lot is if it's really hard for you to like, look at your C-section scar or to think about anything around, like nursing babies or anything like that, find something that's not related at all.

Brigid Tebaldi: 15:55

So I always say, like your pinky toe or something, or like something so small like that, where you can just be like thank you for my pinky I don't know pinky toe, because it helps me balance, or whatever it is. Just make some, make something that's so little feel more significant, because then eventually you can work your way up and then eventually you'll get to again, I'll just say, your C-section scar where you can be thankful that you had that experience and that you went through that, because it's made you a stronger and more resilient person today. So those three things are really great that you should do every single day, regardless of if you've had a bad birth experience or not. Doing those three things every single day is great because, again, it helps foster that relationship with God. It helps you physiologically just stay centered and stay breathing, which is great, and then just feeling that you start to change your mindset. Instead of seeing the negatives, you start to see the positives and everything.

Sheila Nonato: 16:53

Yes, I love that phrase when you were saying resilience, developing resilience, and how birthing is a transformational experience, whether you've had a good one, not so great or could be better. I'm thinking about Japanese potteries when something's broken, they do put it together, but then they get gold paint and they paint the cracks to show and symbolize. I guess that this is not the same pottery. It's actually new and improved. Even though it was broken, it's become, transformed into actually something beautiful. And I feel like this is what you're helping women to do is, if they've had some kind of trauma in their birth experience, that they can through Christ, as Christ has shown us through the cross, we can have sort of a redemption story to our story of trauma, that we can transform that. If you can talk about the foundation, the second foundation, of reclaiming your birth story, what does that entail? How do we do that?

Brigid Tebaldi: 17:55

Yeah, so for this step. And again, this document is like a primer to what I go through in my actual sessions. So if this interests you at all, let me know, Because again we go through way sessions. So if this interests you at all, let me know, because again we go through way way more, way more exercises.

Brigid Tebaldi: 18:13

But again, reclaiming your story is really important because a lot of times women come to me and they'll say like I felt, like things were done to me that I didn't want done, or I had no idea what was happening, or just that you felt like things were out of control. I hear those words a lot and the point of reclaiming your story is to remember that this birth experience is about you and your baby and while it's okay to accept help if you just like, if that's what you desire or if you do need additional support, it's important to remember that this is about you and this is such a transformational time. So by going through and doing these different journaling exercises, it really helps to remember that you are centered and also that God is centered in that experience as well, and a lot of times we forget that God is with us in those difficult moments. God is with us in those difficult moments. So I have clients go through this, a few different exercises so that they can help see where Jesus was or where Mary was in their story, and that just helps to.

Brigid Tebaldi: 19:15

Again, it doesn't make this story, the story go away or it doesn't change how things went, but it just helps your brain reframe it so that, instead of being this really scary, traumatic, challenging, difficult experience, it reframes it. So that, instead of being this really scary, traumatic, challenging, difficult experience, it reframes it so that you can see that, yes, maybe things happened that you didn't want, or maybe you consented to something that you didn't actually want to consent to, but it helps you see that God was there with you and that, even though that happened, he will bring good from it yes, absolutely, and I'm just looking at, um, this beautiful document, you prepared journaling steps.

Sheila Nonato: 19:54

So for people who are, you know, who are not used to journaling, right, they, they mean, they they're not sure, how do you? How do you do this? And I'm also a little bit afraid to write things down. How do how do I get over sort of this fear or anxiety about writing something down? That is very painful? Um, how sort of, yeah, the first step. How, writing something down that is very painful. How, yeah, the first step. How do I do that? What do I write down?

Brigid Tebaldi: 20:18

Yeah, so this can take a few different drafts. So the first time you do this it could be messy, it doesn't matter, just write whatever it is down. It doesn't have to be in complete sentences, it can just be like you want to draw it, draw it If you have different emotions you want to attach to it. Attach it. Just get it out in whatever medium feels good to you and then after that, if you want, you can go through and like make it a nicer draft and then, if you can like keep refining it if you want.

Brigid Tebaldi: 20:49

I do find that typically it takes about two to three times of retelling it to really start to kind of feel the weight lifted off of your shoulders. And another really cool way to do this is with your husband, where you get it from like he tells the story from his perspective, because that can also give you a different idea of like oh, I didn't remember that that happened, or like I didn't remember that that happened, or like I didn't realize that you did this. So it can just be helpful to get that different experience as well. But again, just get it out in whatever way. You can. Scribble it, write it out in sentences, whatever you can do, just to get it out.

Sheila Nonato: 21:31

And then you can always go back and redo it after. And so when I'm writing this down and then so I invite my husband because yeah, he was there, so I invite him do I invite him to write his version down, and then we read it out loud, or whatever we're comfortable with, I guess.

Brigid Tebaldi: 21:46

Yeah, it's really individualized, so it's whatever you are comfortable with.

Brigid Tebaldi: 21:51

I have actually had husbands come on sessions with me and clients before, because it we sometimes forget to that if we did go through something really challenging or traumatic, that the husbands were typically there as well and they were experiencing a different side of things too well, and they were experiencing a different side of things too.

Brigid Tebaldi: 22:11

So, for example, one of my client past clients like expressed how she was taken after birth and like put into an OR just in case, and her husband was left with the newborn baby and so from his side of things, he he didn't know what was happening, so he just had to stay strong and be like, okay, I got this, everything's good. But then after that, like he never had the opportunity to ask questions or to be like why did this happen? Or to express how he felt, and which is hard for guys to do sometimes, but it is important because they can also store those feelings. So, yeah, it's really individualized, whatever you're comfortable with. Again, sometimes husbands come on session, sometimes it's just a matter of like him reading it to you. So it's whatever it works for your relationship.

Sheila Nonato: 22:56

I guess we forget well, some people forget that the husband also experiences, not the same thing, but he also goes through some kind of transformation. He becomes a father, similar to how the baby. I also heard that the baby also goes through you know, their own not trauma, but it's a big. It's a big thing for them to go through the birth canal and all that. So they're also processing information and experiences and so it's kind of a shared experience of a family becoming transformed together. And I love that you're including the husbands, because we sometimes forget well, for myself, sometimes forget oh yeah, you know what. He was there, not that I did.

Co-host: 23:40

I forgot.

Sheila Nonato: 23:41

But I sometimes get focused on, "oh it's poor me, like this is what happened to me. But you know, like you know what, he's there and I can rely on him as a support person, just as when he was there during the birth, just as the doula was there, and it's great to. You know, sometimes my husband also helps me with. You know, in your document you mentioned reframing negative experiences. So he does help me do this because sometimes we, you know, we forget just in the everything happening during birth. We forget, well, we forget just in the everything happening during birth. We forget, well, I forget some certain key things that happened.

Sheila Nonato: 24:15

And then he reassures me you know what this actually, you know this actually happened. You know you don't have to worry about that. Tell me about reframing, how do you? You know, if sometimes, when we are caught up in a cycle of, let's say, negativity, or you know we, we didn't have the perfect experience, birth experience that we wanted, we're caught in this cycle but it's hard to get out of that, how do we reframe? What kind of words of affirmation or change in mindset? How can we do that?

Brigid Tebaldi: 24:45

Yeah. So affirmations are huge and I know that some of this is like in today's world, unfortunately it's sort of like woo woo. But I just want to assure you that you can do this in a very like Christ centered, in alignment with the church way. So with affirmations, it's things just that you can say to yourself and this is again very individualized that we go through, and it's like you figure out what works best for you. But saying things like I did what I thought was best in the moment, or I am strong and capable, or my body is amazing, or I am a good mom Just saying things like that and having sticky notes around, if that's your thing, or listening to them there's a few apps you can use where you can record them and it'll play it back to you with, like, pretty music in the background.

Brigid Tebaldi: 25:32

Whatever it is that works best for you, whether it's seeing it, hearing it, writing it out those sorts of things are really important because those go into your brain, your brain processes them and then those become your thoughts. So if you keep thinking to yourself, my body is amazing, my body is amazing, and you tell yourself that every day, multiple times a day, eventually you will start to believe that. Or like "I am strong and capable, I am strong and capable Same thing. Eventually it might not feel like it, but eventually you will start to believe it because you just tell yourself that over and over and over again. We want to tell ourselves nice things. Right, because God doesn't want us to be mean to ourselves, he doesn't want us to be mean to each other. It's in the Bible. He wants us to love ourselves and our neighbor as ourselves. So affirmations are really, really big. Again, I'm a big fan of sticky notes, so I have sticky notes everywhere just to remind myself. But really finding what works best for you is what you need to do.

Sheila Nonato: 26:30

Yes, beautiful works best for you is what you need to do. Yes, beautiful. And I love when, when I was going through the whole birthing experience, I liked I like to look at, yeah, scripture passages and particularly I really liked, you know, I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me, because it it helped me to take the burden off of. I got to do this myself, you know, take the burden off of. I got to do this myself, you know. You know me, it's all on me. I got to eat, right, you know I got to exercise. You know all the things. Yeah, I got to get the perfect nursery, the, you know, organic baby clothes, like I don't know all the things that you know we got to get everything perfect.

Sheila Nonato: 27:04

But the other thing that helped, was comforting to me, was it's okay that it didn't go the way I wanted. It's okay. It's okay Things didn't go the way I planned and and Jesus can come and and rescue me. Pretty much that was it. Is that? Yeah, it's, it's okay to let go of, you know, a dream of a perfect birth, because you know a perfect birth it's. I don't know if that's even attainable. I mean, like you said it's probably Mother Mary who had that and it's probably not helpful, right, because things can happen in the spur of a moment and we sort of have to learn to adapt. And I'm just leading into foundation number three renewing your spirit. So you write. Renewing your spirit involves reconnecting with your inner self and deepening your relationship with God. Can you tell me please? You know you mentioned here practical steps for integrating faith into your healing journey. You mentioned daily devotions and gratitude practice. Did you want to speak on one or both of those?

Brigid Tebaldi: 28:09

Yeah. So we kind of already touched on the gratitude practice and again, that's just one thing that I try to have everybody do, because it's not only great just for when you're going through the healing experience, but it's just great in general right To be like I'm so thankful, even if things are crazy, like find something that you can be thankful for. There's always something, whether that's just life itself. So, with the daily devotions, the reason that I put this in here is because a lot of times, whenever we're going through a really difficult situation, it's really easy for us to just like draw inward and be like I have to fix this, I have to be the one who's taking care of everything. But when, in reality, that's whenever, if we need to heal, that's when we need more people more than ever, right, so it's like could you heal on your own?

Brigid Tebaldi: 29:02

Yes, however, god calls us to live in community with one another, and he wants us to ask for help because, also, we never know whenever our experience is going to help somebody else.

Brigid Tebaldi: 29:13

So that's another thing to think about is maybe he had you go through this so that eventually you can help counsel somebody else who's going through it or maybe help prevent them from going through it.

Brigid Tebaldi: 29:23

So, with this idea of daily devotions, it's just a matter of the way like you ask for help within your community, but then also you set aside time to go into prayer so that you can also ask for help from the saints so that they can pray for you, or you can ask for help from the Blessed Mother so that she can pray and ask for intercession. So going through and just having that time so that you can sit and just feel the community of the church is going to be vital. Because, again, without healing and community, first, it's going to take a lot longer. And then, second, who wants to just do everything by themselves, like talking to people, being around people Even if you're an introvert like you do crave that sometimes being around people even if you're an introvert like you do crave that sometimes. So healing and community is really important and you want to get that in person, but then you also want to get all the saints to rally with you and to ask God for intercession and, again, ask the blessed mother for her help as well.

Sheila Nonato: 30:25

Yes, absolutely, and you had touched upon resilience through community. That's one of the titles in foundation. Number three is how you were mentioning the crucial role that that plays in the healing journey. Handle it. You know what? What are some signs that you know we, we might need extra support, maybe professional, seek medical help, or from a professional. What kind of signs you know? Let's say it's a new mother, brand new baby signs that we should seek some help.

Brigid Tebaldi: 31:01

Yeah, so a big one is that. And again, I'm not a licensed therapist, so that's one thing that I always tell clients is that if you are experiencing any sort of severe anxiety, severe depression, like rage, that you can't have a control over obviously sometimes we just all get mad and like say things we shouldn't say, but it's like severe or if you're having really negative, dark thoughts, then you should seek help, and that is actually a really great sign of strength. Dark thoughts then you should seek help, and that is actually a really great sign of strength. Even just thinking like I need help, that is your brain and your body telling you and like begging you to ask for help. And it's really hard to take that step and be like I need to find somebody who can help me through this, but it's really really important to, because if you can't, if you don't heal, that's going to have a ripple down effect throughout your entire, like all your relationships and you. And God wants you to heal, he wants you to be happy, he wants you to enjoy your life, like that's why he made us and then a lot of the clients that I work with they are able to, they're like able to do everything that they normally would do, but there's just this like lingering, like whether it's fear of the next pregnancy, like they're scared to get pregnant because they don't want the birth experience to happen again, or whether they have just this like tightness in their chest whenever they think about going through labor again, have just this like tightness in their chest whenever they think about going through labor again Again.

Brigid Tebaldi: 32:31

They just have this feeling of like oh, I just don't want to do that, or like I want more kids, but I'm really, really scared to. So. Whether it's a matter of just again, even if you have this little thought in your head like I wish I could talk to somebody about this or I just need a little bit of help If you're having any of those sorts of thoughts, then I would really encourage you to reach out to somebody, even if it's just like your friend. Talk to somebody and then from there you can figure out what the path is that you need to take, whether it is seeing like a licensed therapist or whether it's just having conversations through sessions with somebody like me. Taking that first step and acknowledging that you even desire help is going to be like the best thing that you can ever do for yourself and your family.

Brigid Tebaldi: 33:17

Yes, absolutely, and can you tell us you're running a workshop tonight, what is the workshop and how you're going to be running it again, I suppose if you can tell us a little bit about that and people can go to your website to to look for more information, yeah, so tonight I'm doing and this is August 29th, so you'll probably won't be able to attend but yeah, so tonight I'm running the birth redemption blueprint, and the reason I call it that is because these are actually five steps that I have like in my program that I've taken out and it will help you heal your heart, rewrite your story, prepare for next time we go through acknowledging your birth experience, releasing emotional burdens, reclaiming your body, reframing your narrative and restoring your confidence.

Brigid Tebaldi: 34:05

So this is a really great webinar to attend. If, again, you're having any sort of just like tug on your heart like oh, I didn't like what I experienced or I want something more next time Now's the time to start practicing for that. So again, it's just a matter of really just acknowledging your feelings and going through, and if you want to join, I would love to see you there. We have over 25 women signed up, which is amazing because again they just take that first step, but then again I will be running it in the future. Um, because again it's just, it's great. We need to heal in community and it's literally part of my program. So if you love this, then you'll love working with me even more.

Sheila Nonato: 34:47

Amazing. Was there anything else you wanted to add? Where can people reach you? Find you.

Brigid Tebaldi: 34:55

Yeah, so I would just love to chat with anybody who is feeling just that little nudge on their heart of like something needs to change, or just like I want more, because God made you for more. He wants you to enjoy your experience here on earth. He wants you to become a saint, and the way that you do that is, again, by trying to stay in communion with him as best we can we're all sinners but by staying in communion with him and just really appreciating what he gives us and trying to work so that we can better ourselves, better our family, better the world. So, yeah, if you have any just nudge on your heart for that, please just reach out to me. I'd love to chat with you. I offer a free coaching session If you wanted to just chat about anything motherhood, it doesn't have to be birth and yeah, I would just love to have you reach out and connect.

Sheila Nonato: 35:43

And what is your website and social media?

Brigid Tebaldi: 35:52

Yeah, so the website is www. lorettowellness. com and that's spelled L O R E T O Wellness, and then I'm on Instagram and that is just @loreto wellness. Again it's L O R E T O Wellness. And again, I would love to have you reach out. You can send me a voice memo or whatever works best for you so we can really learn more about your story and help you get to where you want to go.

Sheila Nonato: 36:13

Thank you so much for joining us. You're you're in Wilmington, Pennsylvania, correct.

Brigid Tebaldi: 36:17

Yes, I'm in a little Amish town of Pennsylvania.

Sheila Nonato: 36:20

Awesome. Yeah, my husband and I well, mostly my husband was driving we drove to Washington and we had to pass through Pennsylvania, beautiful state. We drove to Washington and we had to pass through Pennsylvania Beautiful state. Yeah, it's nice for sure. Yeah, that is awesome. Thank you so much again for joining us. I appreciate hearing all the tips, especially the ones that involve prayer and relying upon God to help us to heal from trauma after birth. So I really appreciate your time and hopefully see you again.

Brigid Tebaldi: 36:54

Yeah, sounds good. Thanks so much for having me and again, if anybody needs anything, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Sheila Nonato: 36:59

Awesome. Have a blessed day you too, and I love that your son was there while you were doing this interview. You have to, you have to, you have to keep going right. We bring our children with us because they're part of us. Yeah, absolutely, thank you so much. God bless, Take care Bye.

Co-host: 37:21

If you like our podcast, please like, share and subscribe. You can also leave us a comment and a review, please. We'd love to hear from you.

Sheila Nonato: 37:37

Thank you, Brigid Tebaldi. We just celebrated the month of September dedicated to Our Lady of Seven Sorrows. We see Our Lady's example of suffering and can relate to the wound of a mother's heart.

Sheila Nonato: 37:51

May those who need healing find the help that you need and deserve so that you may continue to fulfill your irreplaceable and incomparable vocation as wives and mothers. We look forward to celebrating the month of the Holy Rosary next week and we have something special for our podcast in preparation for that most special month. Thank you again for tuning in and, God bless, have a Blessed week. Thank you for listening to the Veil and Armour podcast.

Co-host: 38:21

I invite you to share this with another Catholic mom today. Please subscribe to our podcast and YouTube channel and please spread the word. Let's Be Brave, let's Be Bold and Be Blessed together.