Category: Birth
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When to Call the Doula
In the movies, it usually happens like this: a pregnant woman is out at a restaurant or walking along the street with friends, when her water breaks with a gush. Immediately she must find a cab or get a ride to the hospital because the baby’s birth is imminent. (You wouldn’t know it, but I…
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Book Review: Natural Hospital Birth
Not every woman wants a natural birth, but of those who do, achieving natural birth in a hospital can be a daunting challenge. The medical system has saved countless lives, but it is not well set-up to allow for the unfolding of a natural process. For the women who do not see birth as a necessarily…
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An Unexpected Home Birth Story
I’m very happy to share this birth story from my friends Tom and Joyce! Nathan is their firstborn, and they were planning to have him at Toronto’s birth centre. Things unfolded faster than expected, however, and they ended up having him at home. A week after Nathan was born, Tom shared this on their pregnancy blog,…
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This Birth is Sacred
I started reading Cynthia Gabriel’s Natural Hospital Birth and didn’t even make it through the introduction before I was highlighting whole paragraphs. Gabriel is a doula and anthropologist, and I am looking forward to her perspective. I certainly recognize the challenges that women face who are delivering in a hospital and would prefer a natural birth. Many hospitals…
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Who Should Come to My Birth?
As with many things in life, there is not a cut and dry answer about how many support people a woman needs in labour. The birth of a child (to quote Call the Midwife) is an ordinary miracle – a sacred and uniquely personal event that happens every day, all around the world. In planning…