When the average person thinks of a doula, images of earthy crunchy new-agey women with braids come to mind. We are teased in the media and in medical circles, our nurturing, supportive, natural earthy birthy vibe creating depictions of us lighting lavender scented...

While we have many benefits to our maternity care system, even medical practitioners will tell you that there are also many flaws.As a doula, while I work within this system helping women have the best births they can, I am not of it. It is my job to do my best for my...

There are times you come home from a birth and are filled with the feeling, "I understand many of the things I saw happen in the hospital were done by good people, performed with well educated as well as loving intention in the hopes of sparing a labouring mother and...

The sensations of labour vary for every woman. Not only from woman to woman, but from labour to labour. I have had births that felt virtually painless for most of the labour, to having sensations that kicked my ass leaving me breathless and begging for mercy.I honour...

When a woman becomes pregnant, she is already beginning to grow. It's not her belly that starts to poke out immediately, but her mind and heart that begin to stretch. To integrate the first glimmer of knowledge that she is pregnant requires a huge shift in...

Firstly, before anyone decides this is a rant against epidurals, let me explain. I am emphatically NOT anti-epidural. You cannot work in birth for nearly two decades and be anti-epidural. Just because I'm a doula, the very word conjuring up images of bowls of organic...

Doulas are known to be extremely accommodating. We commit ourselves to staying at births no matter how long they are. That means slipping from our beds at 3am, without knowing as doctors, nurses, and many midwives do, when we will be home. If the birth is 3 hours, 30...

I have been noticing in the doula world some stuggles over words. We have so much to do, so many balances to create, so many environments to improve. Some of these struggles are completely spot on and need addressing. Some verge on what seem to be an attempt to be...