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Amelia Barnes’ Pregnancy and Birth Stories
Today’s guest is Amelia Barnes. Amelia is going to share the stories of her two children’s births. Her son Landon was born in July of 2014 and lived for just four days. I don’t want to tell much of her story for her because she tells it so beautifully but I do want to say how thankful I am for this mama. She began sharing Landon’s story on Instagram during his pregnancy and continued after he was born and was so unbelievably honest and raw about all of her experiences and emotions that she quickly found herself surrounded by a virtual support system of women who had also experienced a loss.
Amelia’s story is especially close to my heart because it helped me navigate the unbelievably hard journey of supporting my best friend through the loss of her son around the same time. Amelia shared her most private thoughts of grief, jealousy, anger and healing in ways that not every mother who’s experienced a loss is able to express but most are feeling. It was so helpful to me to read her posts and know some of the things my friend was struggling with and be able to offer support in the right ways. She’s since created a retreat in Canada for women who’ve experienced the loss of a child to attend called Landon’s Legacy. Amelia gave birth to her daughter Lily very recently and will also be sharing the story of her pregnancy and birth which ended up bringing some answers as to what may have caused Landon’s death. Both stories are beautiful and emotional and so worth the listen.
Amelia Barnes’ Bio
Amelia is a mother, yoga teacher, retreat facilitator, and writer from Winnipeg, Canada. She is also the creator of PranaVidaStyle.com , a unique line of inspired and custom-designed yoga apparel made in Canada.
Landon’s Birth Story
Amelia’s life took an unexpected turn in July 2014, when her first-born baby Landon passed away at just 4 days old, due to brain damage sustained when his hearth suddenly stopped beating during his birth. Her and her husband were given no answers as to what happened, no reason as to why their perfectly healthy baby boy died. Thrown into an intensity of pain beyond what she’d ever imagined possible, she started sharing her feelings and experiences on social media to help her heal and create something beautiful of Landon’s short life. Within less than a year, her community of Instagram followers @ameliakyoga grew from 10,000 to over 100,000.
Lily’s Pregnancy and Birth Story
In November 2015, at 37 weeks pregnant with her daughter Lily, Amelia discovered that she had Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP) and that this had most likely been what cause Landon’s death. This was an terrifying and stressful time, but ultimately lead to a very beautiful healing c-section birth of a healthy, adorable baby girl (read Lily’s birth story here).
Her journey of loss, grief and healing is compiled in her book Landon’s Legacy, soon to be available in Spring/Summer 2016. She is also a guide at the online yoga and healing community www.oneOeight.tv and hosts Landon’s Legacy Retreat, an annual holistic healing yoga retreat for bereaved moms. You can make donations to help mothers attend Landon’s Legacy Retreat and support them in their grief by going here. My best friend attended the 2015 retreat and it was such a healing experience for her.
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