How did it all happen?

I arrived in Amsterdam in 2004.  I always brought my children along to do pretty much everything that I had to do during the day, including dancing, and working as a make- up artist.   In doing so, more and more women asked me how I could combine all of these activities.  How did I carry my baby?  How did I manage to do it all at the same time?

I started to notice that I was doing things very differently than what was considered “normal” in my surroundings.  Thus, I began asking myself if that was why parenting for me seemed to be so much easier.  I became intrigued and consequently started to observe women around me, and noticed that the “normal” way appeared to be; trying to achieve a rational compromise, one that in my view conflicted with the way we were naturally designed, for example, the desire to train babies to become independent.

Increasingly, the same questions were posed to me by different women, occurring so often that I was approached on the street.  Instances like these prompted me to teach people how to carry their babies.

While giving baby-wearing classes, I noticed that the concept went much deeper than just keeping one’s hands free.  Therefore, I began developing and giving many different courses and services regarding a woman’s inner power in addition to natural parenting.  From this point on, I decided to drop my dancing, acting and makeup career and I dedicated my full attention to supporting and empowering families to birth and care for the babies in the way that feels right for them.

I don’t believe that I am teaching people something that they don’t already know. For me, it feels more like waking up their intuition, perhaps that they may not have known existed inside of themselves.  I really enjoy empowering people to get in touch with who they really are.  With this inner strength, they can transmit wisdom and inner power to their babies.

About me:

I was born on June 24, 1985 in Oaxaca, Mexico. I shared a nomad life with my mother, Laura Hernandez (an active professional artist). I was always in the sling (draagdoek) of my mother. In this way, she could have me close, nurture me, and combine painting, organizing exhibitions and business around the world.  I can still remember when I was about 4 years old, the wonderful feeling after a long walk when my mother offered me a ride in the rebozo (Mexican traditional sling).

As a baby in the rebozo of my mother and as a child always by her side, I absorbed all of these valuable lessons while travelling. My mother followed her instincts to take care for me, and encouraged me to use my own.

Naturally, I started carrying my doll at the age of 3, and by the age of 8, I started “wearing” and taking care of real babies. Thus, I had a lot of practice before I gave birth to my first baby. Since then, I have investigated this custom widely, from the anatomical aspects to different ways of carrying babies throughout the world.  I have experimented with a wide variety of methods and developed new ways to wear a baby.

Healing has always been part of my life.  Since I can remember, I have always had a passionate interest in plants, bodies and energies. Throughout my life, I have immersed myself in different healing practices such as massage, body work, trance dance, yoga, Aura-Soma, acupressure, Ayurveda, macrobiotics, raw food, tantra, healing Tao, natural family planning, Mexican traditional medicine and midwifery, homeopathy,  Bach Flowers, compassionate communication and, most recently, permaculture.

During my first pregnancy, I realized and experienced the value of having supportive people around, and also how pregnancy is such a deep journey towards rebirthing one’s self.  For me, it was very intense, healing and certainly valuable to take part in the journey of being pregnant and giving birth to my children (I have two children).  Throughout the experience of birthing, I began to recognize both the limiting beliefs in my mind and the instinctual trust and power within myself.  After these two births, I felt totally reborn.  I returned to the heart of my female essence and balance.

I had two beautiful ecstatic home births with my partner that revealed the potential power within me.  However, to get there, I made many crucial decisions regarding who to have with me, what I wanted, where I felt safe, and how I arrived there. I believe that this is what made the radical differences in my birth experience.

People that have shared their teachings and inspired me around the world are:

Laura Hernandez My Mother

Saida Desilets Healing Taoist teacher

Dona Irene Soleto Alvarez Traditional Mexican midwife and healer

Carli Miller Midwife

Marjon ven der Hasrt Natural family planning

Edid Soto Aura-Soma

Jackie Bloemraad De Boer Doula, Midwife, acupressure, moxa, EFT and polarity

Laura Van Deth Midwife

Sybolt Hakman Natural doctor

Yoram Mozenson Nonviolent Communication

Barbara Harper Water birth educator

Debora Pascali Bonaro Doula, childbirth educator

Ina May Gaskin Midwife

Taco Bloom Permaculture

People that have inspired me by their work:

Michel Odent

Frederick Leboyer

Jane Liedlof

Joseph Chilton Pearce

Harville Hendrix

Glen Doman

Gunter von Hagens

Depack Chopra

Marcial Rosenburg