Maternity Care Options
International Day of the Midwife
I just got back from the dentist. I really dislike going to the dentist but I needed a filling so there I was, lying in the chair, upside down, with my standard issue protective glasses, feeling very anxious. From my vantage point I could see a small bit of the ceiling tile, a big square bright light, and the faces of the dentist and the dental assistant. They were talking back and forth about something banal in the office. They passed instruments back and forth above me. My fists were clenched. The noise of the drill echoed in my head and I smelled burning tooth. At one point, the dentist was pushing hard on my jaw in a way that was painful. I was having a hard time...
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 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 Choices – what is right for you?
Today we have more choices than ever about how we birth. We have the choice of using a doctor or midwife for our practitioner. We have the choice of birthing in the hospital or at home. We can choose who is present at the birth. We can choose to hire a doula. We can choose between a multitude of prenatal classes ranging from hospital-run classes to private classes in Lamaze, the Bradley method or Birthing From Within. We can enroll our older children in Sibling Preparation classes, we can take prenatal yoga or prenatal pilates, we can bring music, pillows and massage oil to the hospital. We can choose to labour in the tub or the shower or on a birth ball. We can play...
Read MoreInternational Day of the Midwife
May 5th was International Day of the Midwife. This special occasion is near and dear to my heart. Both of my children were born with the help of midwives and I have spent the last 3 years spreading the word about how wonderful they are. I exhibited at the 2007 Canadian Association of Midwifery conference in Vancouver. The conference was held in Vancouver that year to also celebrate the 10th anniversary of the legalisation of midwifery in BC. At the conference, I bought a t-shirt that quickly became my favourite (coincidentally, I was even wearing it when I went into labour with my daughter last year) because of the colour, the fabric (organic cotton) and the message...
Read MoreRebirth: Maternity Care Alternatives
Planning to have your baby in the hospital? You might have to contend with some of the symptoms of an over-burdened healthcare system. Maternity wards can be over-crowded and under-staffed. Hospital stays are getting shorter. And if you happen to go into labour at the wrong time, you could be sent to another city’s hospital because all of the hospitals nearby are at capacity. What if our maternity care system could be over-hauled to relieve the burden? What are the realities? Fewer doctors and nurses Besides the well-publicized shortage of nurses, Canada also faces a shortage of physicians who attend births. Between 1992 and 2004, the percentage of general practitioners...
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Recent Comments
Michelle @ The Parent Vortex on To The New Parents
This is excellent, and so very true.bluebirdmama on On Grief and Dying
We have yet to take care of those details, and I'm sure it would help in some ways, but we...