A question that comes up a lot in Vancouver’s birth community is whether or not we should be advocating for a birth centre. My home town of Edmonton has a birth centre, and Ontario has just announced that they will be opening one as well. Many people are surprised to hear me say I’d prefer to dedicate time, money and… Read more →
Have a Water Birth in Vancouver
Where can I have a water birth in Vancouver? There are many advantages to having a water birth. You can easily water-birth at home if you have a bathtub, or you can rent or purchase a birthing pool. What about having a water birth in a Vancouver hospital? Some of the hospitals have tubs in their birthing rooms for… Read more →
Registered Midwives & Traditional Birth Attendants
I’ve been wanting to write a post outlining all of the options women in Vancouver have in terms of who they invite to their births. There are a lot of options to consider between birthing without hired support, traditional birth attendants, registered midwives, family doctors and obstetricians, and possibly also having a doula join the team. Instead of continuing to put off… Read more →
Baby-Led Breastfeeding
I remember when I first did some very initial birth training, I took a course where we watched a video called Baby Led Breastfeeding. The whole class of us “ooooohed” and “aaaahhhed” in amazement as newborn and older babies instinctively found the breast without being forcefully latched on by a care provider. At the end of the video, our instructor said,… Read more →
Maintaining Mental Health In The Postpartum Period
With the cloudy season upon us here in Vancouver, affecting many of our moods, I feel it is an appropriate time to talk about mental health in the postpartum period. While some cultures don’t even have a word for postpartum depression because it simply is not common, we frequently hear about it our industrialized world. In more community-based cultures, women… Read more →