I could watch TED Talks all day because they are so very enlightening, inspiring and informative about almost every topic that matters to many of us. You can learn so much from experts and motivation speakers in any of these areas.
So I wondered if there were any that would be helpful for us going through our pregnancies, births and raising our children. And I found a variety of excellent TED Talks for moms on a few different aspects ranging from pregnancy to parenting.
Now you may not agree with every opinion or statistic or story presented in all of these talks, that’s no problem. Many circumstances are individual to YOUR needs and not everything presented by these professionals may be the best case for you. But knowing the science and experiences out there that these presenters are familiar with can bring a greater understanding and openness to the world of options and things that you can apply to your family.
Above all, just enjoy learning something that you may have never even thought about before. I hope that you come away with a favorite that you’re going to learn about further in order to help take care of yourself and your family in a way to better your lives.
TED Talks For Moms
Here are the ones that I picked for your enjoyment:
Reducing Fear Of Birth In US Culture: Ina May Gaskin
If you’re looking for ways to overcome fear about childbirth, Ina May presents her midwifery experience over a lifetime of experience that truly provides a natural perspective to your birth. Find a few aspects she presents and feel free to search them here at My Natural Baby Birth for more information.
We Must Put The Sex Back Into Birth: Kate Dipfl
The fact that our childbirths are very sexual in nature is often dismissed by practitioners and mothers themselves because of the artificial ideas society plants in our minds about the experience. Orgasmic births are scoffed at and using personal methods for more personal and comfortable birthing experiences aren’t heavily considered. Kate Dipfl presents sexual aspects about our births that are worth considering in order for it to become a more enjoyable experience.
What Babies Learn Before They’re Born: Annie Murphy Paul
You, as a mother, have such a profound effect upon your baby’s health based on your own experiences and lifestyle during your pregnancy. How you birth your child affects their microbiome and a lot of health conditions later in life. Many of these things you have absolutely no control over, but understanding how things can happen may spur you to greater determination to take care of yourself during your pregnancy. Annie Paul describes a lot of interesting real-life cases that will make you think about how you can impact your child’s health before their even born.
The Good News About PMS: Robyn Stein DeLuca
Maybe you start to go haywire the week before your period each month, maybe you don’t. But the interesting thing that Robyn DeLuca talks about here is that over 90% of us women actually DON’T have PMS, even though the world officially says that we do–that it’s all based off of belief and choosing to say that we do. Take back your pre-menstrual symptoms and use them to your advantage. 🙂
For Parents, Happiness Is A Very High Bar: Jennifer Senior
It’s not a bad thing to want to be a better parent or to provide circumstances for your children that you find will help benefit them for the rest of their lives. But Jennifer Senior describes a world in which we start to become overwhelming from all the worldly pressures and ideals that are constantly pressed upon us. Is that really the best way for us to keep our families happy and healthy? You be the judge.
In Our Baby’s Illness, A Life Lesson: Roberto D’Angelo & Francesca Fedeli
I thought I’d let you watch this one last because it is quick, and reminds all of use that no matter what happens with our children and what we believe we may have done wrong, our worlds are still beautiful and we’ll find a way. This couple tells a tender story about their son’s condition and how they chose to show him the world differently when they realized he simply wanted to see what made them happy.
I will likely watch Ina May’s video a few more times as I get ready for this third pregnancy to finish soon. When you see other’s personal experiences expressed more vividly, what we read over and over becomes more real and believable and even actual truth to us.
Learn More With Ina May’s Guide To Childbirth
I hope that watching these has helped make a difference for you and they have for me. Which one was your favorite?
Hello Sarah, thanks for sharing these great talks for expectant mothers. It is easy to forget how much we can control in child birth, and how much our choices can affect who our child becomes. I truly enjoyed Ann Murphy Paul’s talk on when children start learning and how mothers should be aware that learning starts before birth, and therefore help create a stable environment for their pre-birth babies as well as offer the necessary nutrition to them so that they are not starved of nutrients they need to develop properly. Thanks for sharing and great website by the way! Will definitely come back for more great insights.
Hi Mimi. Glad you like her talk. It truly is amazing how much influence we have on our children without knowing and we don’t even understand it all. One of the most important nutrients you need at the beginning is folic acid . Then our age, especially when we’re over 35, plays a huge role as well. Let me know if you have any questions. Have a great day!
TED talks are seriously awesome, so enlightening like you said here. I found the most interesting video to be what babies learn before they’re born. This is incredible to me. Babies are already being effected by the culture of their mother before they’re even born, crazy! I didn’t know that people had a fear of birth in today’s world. Modern medicine and treatment has made child birth much safer in recent years.
Hi Luke. Being a woman going through a dramatically marvelous experience like birth, it can be overwhelming and having some fear about birth runs deeper than just the assistance with western medicine. Do you have any children?
You are right, though. There is nothing to be afraid of because we do know so much about the process and our bodies have all the capabilities needed to do so. But it’s something like undertaking a huge skydiving jump for the first time–you know you’ll be fine but there are negative possibilities. So who wouldn’t be at least a little nervous?
Thanks for your comment!
It’s a great article very detailed and easy to read.
Thanks Robert.
Hey again Sarah.
TED talks! I love TED talks! I think I will have to sit down with my girlfriend and watch some of these with her.
We have been looking at what babies learn in the womb and I believe that as a society we completely underestimate our unborn children. They learn so much. I read once you can even teach them perfect pitch and tone by playing scales in a certain way everyday for a period of time before they are born. Amazing!
Thanks for putting this list together. 🙂
Hopefully, that piano is tuned when you play the scales. 🙂
Maybe I should play my piano more here in the last few days with this one and I’ll get lucky and he’ll want to play piano as I do.
Yes, grab a snack and just take the time to watch them all. Even if you’re not having kids right now, the one about PMS is pretty good too.
Thanks Elsie!
I really like the theme that you have chosen for your site. It is very subtle, calm and ‘mother like’.
I also really like the detailed content underneath each video. You haven’t just placed a video with a quick description.
I think the idea for content is great as many people (myself included) can be terrified of childbirth.
Great site and I wish you much success!
Ina May’s video, and even her Guide for Childbirth are excellent for those still trying to venture through dealing with how to overcome fear with their childbirth . It’s sad how our society has created such a fear and stigma that effect us so negatively that it results in generations worth of poor consequences.
Let me know if you ever have any questions, Challaine. Thanks for commenting!
Hi Sarah,
Quite a good list to begin with. What babies learn before they’re born. I remember how my wife went through our 4th girl. She’d spend the whole day watching HISTORY and Discovery channels, airplane crash investigation, etc., even just to listen to the TV, which is something that she didn’t do before, and didn’t do after birth. It is amazing how babies absorb so much information (and habit) while still in the womb!
Now 5 years old, our girl is very talkative, very inquisitive, and likes to ‘catch up’ with her sisters! She can’t be left behind, and she would watch very patiently those demo videos in Youtube, where miniature toys are assembled, even those cooking demos. And she likes to read!
Indeed, a children’s education begins while they are in the womb, so it is a good idea to plan on this because it will be the child’s lifetime habit.
Excellent post, and I hope many more will come and learn from it.
Thank you!
That’s very interesting Porfy, with your daughter. Makes me want to do the same with my kids. I’ve already started seeing signs with my second boy related to experiences I had while I was pregnant with him, and I certainly know it to be true as well. Seems like we don’t worry about these sorts of differences we can make for our children, rather than the typical things like the mother’s weight or folic acid intake.
Thanks for your comments!
Hi Sarah,
I really enjoyed reading your article. I am a happy mom of two beautiful children .I was the one that was scared to death before I get pregnant. I was scared of the pains and many other things. I was so scared that asked the Doctor to inject me the epidural before even having strong contractions. If I would have to do it again , I definitely would give birth naturally.
Thank you very much for this awesome article
I was scared before I got pregnant too, but not really from the ‘pain’, but from the entire aspect of just not being ready to have a baby. But I had some personal experiences that helped me overcome my fear of childbirth and it has spurred me on to share with others through My Natural Baby Birth.
Thanks for stopping by Daniella. It’s always nice to hear from you! 🙂
Hi Sarah
I’m not a mother yet and I really can’t relate to mothers because I’ve never gone through the whole mothering thing but I found this very interesting to read. Too often I read of women that are scared to give birth naturally (I’m one of them it’s why I’m not a mom yet!) You’ve this very well and I love the videos you’ve added. Very educational and now at least I know a lot more so I can wand off my fears of childbirth. Very well done. Keep it up!
Cheers
Jelly.
I’m glad to have been of help, Jelly. Let me know if you ever have any questions on overcoming fears of birth . The fear that society feeds into us creates the unfortunate experiences that aren’t necessary for the decisions we make. I would tell myself a lot when I was pregnant with my first baby , that millions of women have done this naturally, so why can’t I do it too?