Today I’m excited to bring you a great blog about pregnancy, birth, and post-partum. It’s a bit similar to Evidence Based Birth in some ways – as it has a similar mission of informing and empowering moms – but it’s also quite different. I think you’re going to really love it!

EBB is of course heavily focused on what the study evidence shows for how different approaches work in pregnancy and delivery. It’s very detailed with fantastic information.

Mother Rising has much less of this scientific feel (though also refers to evidence!) and is much more conversational. It also covers a bit more of the range of experience for moms, from pregnancy all the way through postpartum. Because frankly, postpartum is a big part of the process… and most of us don’t realize that till we get there. Honestly, the most I’d heard about postpartum was “watch out for PPTD”. But there’s plenty more to it than that and Lindsey has some great advice for dealing with what’s called the 4^th trimester.

Lindsey is an experienced doula and a mom of 3. When I first came across her website, I confess the title made me think it was going to be some hippie mother-earth-goddess type blog. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just what I anticipated. But that’s not her style at all. I mean, it might be somewhat hippie (what doula isn’t?!) but in fact the author is a Christian. Side note: It’s amazing to me how many of the quality blogs that I come across are created by Christians, because that is NOT one of my criteria!

I really love Lindsey’s website and what she does with it. She shares so much practical information, but with so much real life infused into it. She’s got quite a sense of humor which is constantly popping through and making you laugh. Who doesn’t love to bust out in a belly laugh in the middle of reading valuable information?

Lindsey writes with so much experience – both as a doula and a mother. And she writes with heart. She’s not there to ram a particular “this is the way to do it” motherhood method down your throat. She IS there to help moms have their best experiences with pregnancy and beyond! So get out there and start absorbing what she has to share.

Her blog’s main content is essentially set up in 3 sections: pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. It’s easy to go through the topics you want, especially with the related posts linked in each section.

Her website also has some great resources. For example, guides to essential oils, morning sickness remedies, etc. You can find all this under Resources. However, the most helpful resource on her website might actually be Lindsey herself! She is not only a doula, she provides birth classes. You can find all this information under her About section.

The only thing I can’t completely love about Mother Rising is the ads. They’re a little more cumbersome here than in some of the other websites currently on my list. But the website is still on my list because the content is that good. I can’t let the ads keep it from you. Fight through them to benefit from this great website!

One Thing Ma Loves: Her book reviews and resources section! I mean, seriously, people. There is so much good stuff that you can go out and get NOW to help you, without committing a big chunk of money. These are resources recommended by someone on the front lines of birth… I hope you’ll pay attention and find something that could help you. Consider it valuable investment into YOUR health and well-being as well as your baby’s!

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As soon as I came across this website, I knew I had to get it to you ladies!

Let me start by saying this is not the typical mom blog that I share on here. I’m not sure it meets the technical definition of “mom blog” in the internet dictionary… if there is such a thing. But it certainly meets my criteria for Ma’s List sites. It’s high quality. And it hits on a topic I’ve wanted to get on Ma’s List for a while now. Read more about that in my little birth chat article, coming soon.

When you first see the website title, you might think it’s for healthcare workers, for scientists, or maybe even for those moms who do home births? Well, in my opinion, this website is for every woman who is having children or will have children. And it’s for every woman who knows someone in that category. And it’s definitely for everyone who works with the birth process in a professional capacity. Did I get all of you??

I’m sure this website could appeal more to certain types of personalities – the analytical type, the researcher type. But give it a try even if you think you’re not that type.

Rebecca Dekker is the site founder. She’s a nurse with a PhD, who was originally inspired to start this project after having a less-than-ideal birth experience in the hospital with her first child. She wondered if the care she received was evidence-based… and thus Evidence Based Birth was born. She is the primary driver of content, although she now works with a team to make everything happen.

And there’s a lot happening, let’s talk about the resources.

For you as a mom, the central valuable resource on this website is the blog. Here you have free access to a LOT of fantastic info. Her articles are extremely focused on the topic at hand: the birth / delivery of babies. They’re very unbiased. They cover all the known relevant studies, provide summaries of this info, and discuss what this might tell us about birth. Each article focuses on a very specific topic, and many of them are arranged in series. For example, there’s a series on pain management. I can only imagine the amount of time and effort that goes into creating each of these gold mines of information.

One of my favorite aspects of the blog is that the content is “consumable” (can I use that word?) in a variety of ways – as readable, audio, or video. Honestly, how can you beat that? Pick your favorite and go to town.

Evidence Based Birth also offers other resources. They have some products: for example, PDF printouts of their articles, t-shirts with fun mottos. This money goes toward supporting Evidence Based Birth website and work, which is non-profit and stays unaffiliated from other organizations in order to be unbiased.

Another resource for parents (in specific areas, for now) is a childbirth class.

There are also resources for birth professionals. Evidence Based Birth offers training, professional membership, and certification. And they have a first Evidence Based Birth conference coming up in 2019!

One Thing Ma Loves: I love the fact that the founder and primary author of this website is a nurse. Not a doctor, not a doula, not a midwife. Now I don’t say that as a hit against any of those truly admirable professionals or their work. But I like that it’s coming from a nurse because these are the people who do all the work on the front lines of hospital births – the majority of births today. These are the people who see so much. And now one of them’s stepping up to lay out a scientific analysis of different birth methods.

I hope you enjoy this website!

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Topics: Finance (Budgeting / Paying Off Debt / Frugal Living)

Meet the latest addition to Ma’s List – Inspired Budget!

I came across this blog through another finance blog and found it to be a great one. Yes, I realize there are a ton of finance and budgeting blogs out there. You may have seen I have a few on the list already, and I expect I’ll add more. That’s because each quality blogger has a unique story to share. Some stories speak more loudly than others to our experiences, our dreams. I want to help you get to the sites that are loud for you. And I know this is one of them because Allison’s on a mission to help others.

Allison is a real mom, who’s been through the real debt pay-off process, who’s been through the trenches and still is. She’s got some really practical advice to share. She wants to see you win. And this is just her side gig – she has a teaching job. So I particularly admire her effort to pursue this passion in the midst of work and mom life.

You can read Allison’s story on her website, but in a nutshell, she and her husband paid down over $111,000 of debt. Now she loves to help other people, particularly with her passion of budgeting.

Finance is a broad topic. Allison focuses on several key subtopics on her blog: budgeting, paying off debt, and frugal living. She also openly shares her monthly income reports. That’s pretty cool transparency, if you ask me. So I love that openness about her. And she offers a free budgeting course and a paid one as well.

Allison’s got a very open, authentic writing style. She’s approachable and practical. Her topics are interesting, her writing style is clear. And frankly she can be pretty funny. She comes across as a real person, just like you or me – with passion and authenticity.

One Thing Ma Loves: Debt Free Stories. Allison shares interviews with different people who have successfully paid down large amounts of debt. Each story is unique and brings the reader unique inspiration. Great work Allison.

I hope you’ll check out her site!

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Topics: DIY / Home Design / Entertaining

Meet the latest addition to Ma’s List – Joyful Derivatives!

I’m excited to share this website with you. Frankly, it’s the first site for these topics that made the cut. That’s because a website on Home Design can be a lot of things that just aren’t helpful. It can be way too expensive, whereas we’re looking for affordable. It can be too complicated, instead of practical. Like it’s focusing on interior decorators or contractors. Or it can be too much of a lifestyle blog… which is fine, just not our mission.

But Joyful Derivatives is everything we’re looking for: affordable, practical, emphasis on teaching rather than merely showcasing.

Rachel and her husband learned in the trenches what they teach, by working to improve the first home they bought. Their background is experience, not a degree or a career in the field.

Her website covers 3 main categories: DIY (Do It Yourself), Home Design, and Entertaining. The  website menu shows these categories, so it’s super easy to navigate. Now even though I don’t consider myself a big DIYer, and I just dabble in home design stuff to amuse myself, I really enjoy reading what she shares on these topics and I get some fun ideas. And her posts on the topic of entertaining are great. You have to check them out. At first some of the titles may strike you as common sense. Like 5 Simple Steps To A Beautifully Set Table. But I feel like you’ll get something new or just practical from each one.

She has a very cheerful, positive writing tone. I think just reading her blog will encourage and inspire you. Even if you aren’t planning a big or small (or any!) house remodel. Rachel makes everything sound fun and do-able… and she gives you the steps to actually do what she’s done. She helps us realize we don’t always have to call in experts and hand over boatloads of money. But she definitely preaches doing your research and planning. Extremely wise advice.

One Thing Ma Loves: I love her website, not just because it’s straightforward, but it’s also not “sell-y”. There are a few ads, but they’re not in your face (on the laptop anyway). But what I really mean by not sell-y is that she doesn’t spend a lot of website space trying to sell her services to you. The only thing she really advertises are her free resources – beat that. I had to hunt just to find out that she does offer paid services!

I hope you’ll check out her site!

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Introducing my first list in the The Top Blogs series – the best of the best mom blogs on minimalism and decluttering.

I’ll give you the link and author of each site, and a few reasons I’m recommending it.

Before we begin, here are answers to a couple questions you may have.

How do you come up with this list? – Read my explanation here.

Aren’t these 2 separate topics? – Yes, that’s true. Minimalism and decluttering are technically two words with different definitions. But I’ve found they’re closely tied in any quality website for moms on either topic. And they’re closely tied in real life experience. You can’t have minimalism without the action of decluttering. (Unless you’re one of those people who has never owned or kept any unneeded unwanted thing… then… kudos to you!) And while you could have just the activity of decluttering without any minimalism behind it, I feel like that would quickly devolve into a directionless task and unmaintanable state. Decluttering is the activity that needs to happen, and minimalism is the motivating spirit that drives it. So for now I’m bringing you a list of blogs that combine both.

Ma’s List – The Top 3 Minimalism & Decluttering Blogs

Allie Casazza

Allie has got to be the queen of decluttering, especially for moms of young kids. She has “ruthlessly edited her home” (her expression which I love) with 4 young kids in tow, and now she helps other moms do the same. Moms of young kids, this site is especially for you.

Yet Allie has so much more to offer than simply decluttering advice. She shares heaps of practical wisdom on ways to simplify and manage your home and your entire life. She has vision and passion for these topics and produces excellent content. I can tell you that all her free content is so good. Not just blog posts and podcasts but also free guides, downloads, etc.

Basically I’m saying you have to check out her site. I guarantee you will get something out of it. I get value out of almost 100% of her content – that’s a super high return compared to many sites I’ve visited.

One Thing Ma Loves: Allie provides complete written shownotes of all her podcasts. Meaning you can read the whole thing instead of listen, if you prefer. (Personally I love this feature and way prefer written notes anytime.)

Simple Not Plain – Janie

This is an outstanding website. In my mind I like to  call it “A Basic Primer for a Minimalist Home.” It’s perhaps most outstanding because it covers nearly all aspects of your home life in just 12 blog posts – all extremely thorough and top-quality. Janie tells you what she did and gives you step-by-step actions as well as lots of practical ideas you can try out at your own pace.

I’ve never seen such a perfectly contained website.

Also I can’t stop saying how practical this website is. The value yield per word is huge.

At present this site hasn’t been updated for a couple years. But the value is all still there, folks. It’s timeless content.

Breaking news – Janie is planning to re-launch the website! This is super exciting news. Be sure to follow or bookmark this site so you can see the latest!

One Thing Ma Loves: If I had to choose one post that led to significant helpful change in my daily life, it would be her minimalist beauty routine post. It’s about way more than makeup. It’s got that, plus a total rundown of how to streamline things in the hair and showering departments. While my life and environment doesn’t permit me to do  everything exactly the way she does, she inspired me to develop similar solutions that really simplify things. Check it out and see if it doesn’t spark an idea for you.

Nourishing Minimalism – Rachel Jones

Rachel has been in the business of establishing a minimal and decluttered home for years now. 10 years plus. Her kids are now a bit older than “littles”, which gives her a unique perspective… Since a lot of mom bloggers today have very young kids. Even though I’ve come across her website more recently, she’s been doing this a long time and her experience shows.

Her content is excellent and there is lots of it on her website. Minimalism, decluttering, organizing, cleaning – she handles all these topics very well. Also she has a fun and interesting category called Holidays.

She’s an extremely relatable blogger. Her thought process is great to follow, and even her writing style makes you feel relaxed and peaceful. You will get a ton out of what she shares. Just start somewhere of most interest to you.

One Thing Ma Loves: I really enjoy her minimal home tours. Her blog regularly features people sharing photos and descriptions of their homes. This is amazing because minimalism in your home really needs to be something you can personalize. And so it’s super helpful to see how different people do it: what they have in their house, how they set things up, etc. So kudos to Rachel on this great feature.

That’s all for now, folks! Enjoy and benefit!

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