All tagged Support
Although it’s common to experience back and or pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy, it’s also possible to enjoy this incredible time of your life. Here are 5 simple tips to help you feel strong and healthy through your pregnancy and prepare your body for your best birth.
Labourland is the place you go when you’re in labour (particularly unmedicated labour):
As oxytocin flows…
As contractions intensify…
As endorphins soften the world…
As focus and energy turn ever inward and down…
You enter into labourland.
Why is asking for help so. damn. hard?!
Our culture values independence. In fact, we value it so highly that we’d often rather be miserable, exhausted, overwhelmed, and independent then thriving, joyful, rested, and interdependent.
Here’s the secret though – it doesn’t have to be that way. The only reason it IS that way is because we’ve all agreed to it. So if enough of us decided another way is better, then THAT would be the way.
We were honored to support more than 90 families in 2019! Thank you so much to each person who invited us to care for you this year. It was our honor and privilege to support you and to bear witness to your transformation into parenthood.
As a lactation educator, I hear commonly asked questions when I support new families. This list of the top three questions and my responses to my clients offers some practical information on breastfeeding your newborn. Whether you are an experienced breastfeeder or entering breastfeeding as a first-time mother or parent, this information will help you establish breastfeeding with your newborn.
It can be challenging enough trying to navigate our own choices in childbirth. When we add the expectations of others into the mix, it gets downright stressful. How can we manage the expectations of others? Let’s dig a little deeper.
In an ideal world, every pregnant person would have the ability to carefully and intentionally choose a maternity care provider who was a good match for them.
In Calgary, the reality of choosing a maternity care provider is more akin to “You get what you get and you don’t get upset”. This means that sometimes you and your maternity care provider are not a good fit for each other and the relationship may suffer from a breakdown in communication, mutual respect, and/or trust.
Sometimes, you may be able to change care providers. But if not, or you choose to stay with your current care provider, what can you do to cultivate a more positive, functional relationship? How can you advocate for yourself and your baby in a kind and assertive way?
Congratulations! You're pregnant.
We're good friends. I love you dearly and I consider you one of the closest people in my life. I'm over the moon for you and your partner. I seriously love you guys.
Here's where it can get sticky.
I first came across this model of support in this article. I immediately saw how beautifully this could be adapted and applied to supporting pregnant people and their partners through labour and the early postpartum period.
Whether you've known since you were sixteen that you wanted to have a midwife attend your birth, or whether you're seven months along with baby #3 and this is the first time the possibility's crossed your mind, here are 5 common myths we hear about midwifery care in Calgary and the truth behind them...
Woman-to-woman support has been a cornerstone of birth support throughout human history. Whether medically, physically or emotionally, women have long been depicted helping other women as they transition into motherhood.
The recent (in the grand scheme of things) addition of fathers to the childbirth process has been a welcome and needed evolution in birth support. But this can sometimes lead to concern about a trained and professional support person also joining the team.
Common fears/questions from partners often include:
Instead of explaining my very biased (yes, doulas are amazing!) point of view, I reached out to some dads I've previously worked with. Here’s what they had to say...
