Childbirth Options
Begin at the Beginning
Forgive me for being a bit obvious here: Natural Parenting came pretty naturally to us. When I look at the list of principles that make up the natural parenting philosophy, I identify with so many of them that it’s hard for me to think of just one that might resonate more than another. I can’t even really pinpoint how or when I came to incorporate them into my life. Sometimes I end up in a situation (like the sign-in sheet at La Leche League meetings) when I am asked where I first heard of La Leche League or co-sleeping, or when did I first become interested in homeschooling or midwifery, or when did I decide to breastfeed and to leave my son intact, and I just can’t...
Read MoreA Quiet Example
Welcome to the May Carnival of Natural Parenting: Role model This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have waxed poetic about how their parenting has inspired others, or how others have inspired them. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants. *** In 2005, we had a baby. We used midwifery care. We had a home birth. We had a son and we did not circumcise him. We used a cloth diaper service. We breastfed. Aaron and I were the first in our group of friends to have kids. At first it was kind of strange and we felt like...
Read MoreFirst Baby First Homebirth
I was born at home so I’ve known all my life that there was a possibility that it wasn’t all about the hospital, that there were options. Even so, when I was pregnant with my first my attitude was “we’ll see.” I thought we’d explore it, talk it over with the midwives but that it was more likely we’d have a homebirth with our second baby. I was unsure and I thought back to my mom saying that one of the reasons she had me at home was because she’d already given birth twice before. She talked about it like it was no big deal, but there was always the underlying explanation that she had experience. And me? In my first...
Read MorePreparing The Nest – getting ready for your homebirth
Having a home birth can be an amazingly empowering and rewarding experience, not just for mom but for the whole family. In a world dependent on technology, enamored with science, it is indeed a rare accomplishment to birth a baby at home far from epidurals and laughing gas. There is also something magical about going through the birth experience in the place you live day to day, in your own private space where you feel safe and comfortable. Imagine how lovely it is, a year or two later, to look up from where you are sitting and think “wow, this is where we were when this sweet child joined us for the first time!” A home birth is not particularly more complicated than a...
Read MoreOpen Letter to BC Homebirth Study Critics
Dear Uniformed Commenter After reading the newest study on the safety of homebirth, I sat back to read some reactions from the press and the public. I had a look at the CTV coverage and the CBC coverage and I read over the comments in reply to each story. Imagine my dismay when I read some of your reactions! I was rather glad that the comments were closed because I was too upset to post anything coherent or cool-headed. Frustrated, I can not stop thinking about your replies. First, I shake my head as it appears that you’ve neither read the study nor understood the very article you’ve responded to. You seem to have missed the point entirely. Your arguments fall into one...
Read MoreBirth Plan Basics
Once unheard of, it is now routine to hear “this is a copy of my birth plan” as a woman is admitted to L&D. There is a lot of info (and opinions) out there about birth plans. This post is intended as a primer to get you pointed in the right direction. Often explained as a document outlining how you wish your childbirth experience to go, the birth plan is much more: The birth plan is way to prepare for your birth: properly prepared, it will require discussion with your care providers and likely personal research and reading. It will allow you to seriously consider how you feel about medications, interventions, procedures, and yes, emergency situations...
Read More
Recent Comments
Cari on To The New Parents
So wonderfully said!! As a mother to a 5, 4, and 2 year this is very true. As I watch...Michelle @ The Parent Vortex on To The New Parents
This is excellent, and so very true.