Ashly McClough

Ashly McClough Raising eight kids & keeping my sanity (mostly) 😅
3x freebirths 👉🏼 life after NICU. Practical holistic wellness for busy parents. 🌱

They put the TINIEST porch possible on our house 😂 Tell me this isn’t ridiculous lol. We are planning to expand since we...
06/05/2026

They put the TINIEST porch possible on our house 😂

Tell me this isn’t ridiculous lol. We are planning to expand since we have a decent lot, but not sure which direction to take!

What would you do to expand??

As a mom of 8 and a doula for over a decade, one thing I wish more women understood is this:Your cervix is not a crystal...
06/03/2026

As a mom of 8 and a doula for over a decade, one thing I wish more women understood is this:

Your cervix is not a crystal ball. 😅

A cervical exam cannot predict when labor will start, how long labor will last, or whether you’re about to have a baby tomorrow or next week.

Some women sit at 3-4cm for DAYS.
Some women go from “barely dilated” to holding a baby a few hours later.

Birth is not a slow, perfectly organized, linear staircase the internet makes it sound like.

And declining cervical exams is perfectly acceptable unless there’s an actual medical reason one is needed.

A lot of experienced home birth midwives can usually tell where labor is progressing WITHOUT constantly checking internally anyway.

They’re watching:
• your breathing
• your sounds
• your movement
• pressure changes
• how you cope through contractions
• emotional shifts
• whether you’re getting quiet, shaky, inward, irritable, etc.

Because labor is a whole-body process.
Not just a number.

I think a lot of women are pressured into unnecessary checks because they don’t realize they can simply ask:
“What information will this change?”

Sometimes the answer is:
…nothing. 👀

People get mad when I say this, but here we go:Hospitals often create MORE birth emergencies than they prevent.Not becau...
06/02/2026

People get mad when I say this, but here we go:
Hospitals often create MORE birth emergencies than they prevent.

Not because OBs are inherently bad… but because the system turns a normal biological process into a medical event the second you walk in the door and policies are focused on preventing them legally, not necessarily giving the most evidence based care. They are *surgeons* after all…

Let’s talk about the #1 thing everyone thinks makes birth safer:
Continuous electronic fetal monitoring.

You know… the belts they strap on you that play the galloping heart rate in the background??

Here’s the part nobody wants to hear:

👉 Continuous fetal monitoring increases interventions, NOT safety.
👉 It does NOT reduce cerebral palsy rates.
👉 It does NOT reduce stillbirth.
👉 It does NOT improve neonatal outcomes.

But it does increase:
• C-section rates
• Forceps/vacuum use
• “Fetal distress” diagnoses
• Unnecessary inductions
• Mom getting stuck in bed which in itself leads to a cascade of interventions

And this isn’t crunchy opinion.
This is straight out of *decades* of data.

Studies show continuous monitoring has significantly higher cesarean rates with NO decrease in adverse neonatal outcomes.

Translation?
We’re creating emergencies by looking for emergencies that aren’t there.

Once you’re strapped in and told to get on the bed:
• you can’t really move
• contractions hurt more
• labor stalls
• Pitocin gets started
• baby doesn’t like Pitocin
• monitors look “concerning”
• suddenly you’re “not progressing”
• and then… SURPRISE! “Emergency C-section.”

Tell me how that’s safer??

Birth works better when:
• you’re upright
• you’re not tethered to machines
• you’re not starved or dehydrated
• you can change positions
• you’re not pressured by the clock
• your hormones aren’t shut down by fear

But none of that fits inside a hospital protocol sheet that’s driven by preventing liability instead of protecting mothers.

So we pretend the medical emergency started in your body when it actually started from cascading protocols and interventions. 🫠

You want the truth?
Most “birth emergencies” in hospitals are iatrogenic… meaning created BY the system.

And every mom who’s lived both sides (hospital vs home birth) knows exactly what I mean. 🫶🏼

First weekend of summer,and every year I have the same thought…Eighteen sounds like a lot until you’ve already used up h...
05/31/2026

First weekend of summer,
and every year I have the same thought…

Eighteen sounds like a lot until you’ve already used up half of them. 🥺

So here’s your reminder to say yes to the popsicle, the sprinkler, the late bedtime, the ice cream run, and the messy memories.

I’ll miss the noise.

(Not today, obviously… today I’m hiding in the pantry to eat a snack in pace and mostly looking forward to bedtime)

But someday. 🥹❤️

I honestly think this ONE thing quietly sabotages a lot of marriages:Running to everybody else every time you’re annoyed...
05/28/2026

I honestly think this ONE thing quietly sabotages a lot of marriages:

Running to everybody else every time you’re annoyed at your spouse.

Your mom.
Your sister.
Your best friend.
The group chat.
Facebook.
TikTok comments.
Whoever will validate you fastest.

So now your spouse is being discussed in rooms they’re not even in…
over arguments you’ll probably be over by tomorrow. 😅

Some of y’all are accidentally destroying the way people view your husband/wife by constantly feeding them a highlight reel of their worst moments.

Then later it’s:
“Why does my family hate him?”
“Why do my friends act weird around her?”
“Why does everybody think we’re toxic?”

Well… because you’ve been publicly documenting every irritating thing they’ve done since 2018. 💀

Keep some things private.

Not every frustration needs an audience.
Not every disagreement needs outside opinions.
Not every emotion needs to be immediately broadcasted.

Talk to a therapist.
Write in a journal.
Talk TO your spouse.

Because resentment grows real fast when you’ve got a whole committee helping you stay mad. 😅🫶🏼

05/26/2026

We both grew up fatherless... and let me tell you, there is absolute magic in watching a fatherless man become the dad he didn’t have.

Always doing better by his babies.

Love you forever. 🖤

05/26/2026

Us vs. Them 🫶🏼
That heterochromia really took over things 😂 Eye genes are wild! What fun mixes did you end up with?

“You can’t possibly have enough time for that many kids.”As a mom of 8 kids, 13 and under, I hear that one a lot. 😅And h...
05/26/2026

“You can’t possibly have enough time for that many kids.”
As a mom of 8 kids, 13 and under, I hear that one a lot. 😅

And honestly, I get why people think that. 🫶🏼

I think a lot of people picture good parenting as being endlessly available all day long….
Constant interaction,
constant entertainment,
constant emotional availability,
and constant responding the second someone wants something.

But one of the biggest things I’ve learned over the years is that quality time doesn’t have to be 1-on-1 to actually matter.

Sometimes it’s just fully listening when they’re talking to you instead of distracted half-listening.

Sometimes it’s sitting with them for 10 minutes while they tell you about Minecraft or cheer or a the latest NeeDoh trend you don’t remotely understand 😅

Simultaneously, boundaries are healthy too.

“I’ll help you after I sit down for a few minutes.”
“Can you find something else to do until I finish this?”
“Please don’t interrupt while someone else is talking.”

I think some moms are drowning because they feel guilty not responding immediately to every sound, question, snack request, argument, complaint, touch, or inconvenience the second it happens.

But kids learning:
• patience
• independence
• problem solving
• respect for other people’s time and needs

…is NOT harmful.

Being a good mom isn’t about running yourself into the ground proving you love your kids.

It’s about building a home where everyone feels safe, loved, heard… and where mom is still allowed to be a human too.

Motherhood gets a lot easier when you stop trying to perform newborn life like a Pinterest mom and start building it aro...
05/25/2026

Motherhood gets a lot easier when you stop trying to perform newborn life like a Pinterest mom and start building it around what actually works. 🤷🏼‍♀️

As a mom of 8, I genuinely don’t think the newborn phase is as hard as people make it out to be.

I think trying to force babies into rigid systems while recovering postpartum is what breaks people.

Some moms are:
• timing feeds down to the minute
• fighting a baby over a bassinet all night
• walking laps around the house at 2am instead of safely bedsharing
• trying to maintain a “perfect” diaper station upstairs AND downstairs
• stressing over wake windows
• forcing a schedule onto a 9 day old human
• trying to shower during the day alone with kids lol

Meanwhile over here?

• babywearing fixes half my problems
• nursing on demand is easier than watching a clock
• a fold-up diaper pad on the couch works just fine
• I shower at night in PEACE bc my husband is home
• contact naps are temporary, not a bad habit
• bedsharing saved my sanity postpartum
• simple routines > aesthetic routines
• uncircumcised babies tend to be a whole lot less angry those first few days 😅

The newborn phase got easier when I stopped asking:
“How do I do this perfectly?”

…and started asking:
“How do I make this sustainable?”

Babies don’t actually need as much stuff as the internet tells you they do.

Most of them just want to be close to you. 🫶🏼

05/24/2026

Cervical checks.
Inductions.
Pitocin.
Continuous monitoring.
Students in the room.
Even a C-section recommendation until you understand WHY it’s being pushed.

That doesn’t mean refusing care blindly.
It means informed consent still applies when you’re pregnant.

A lot of women don’t realize they’re allowed to ask:
“Is this urgent?”
“What happens if we wait?”
“What are the alternatives?”

And honestly… that’s a problem.

What’s something you declined? 👀

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