by Jessica Austin December 18, 2012 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 […]
by Jessica Austin January 22, 2013 Many women / parents are reluctant to trust their own ability to make rational, informed decisions about their medical care provider’s recommendations. I believe this is partially because of the assumption many people have that medical professionals like doctors and registered midwives make recommendations and perform procedures according to, […]
by Jessica Austin November 4, 2011 Setting up a resource section at Burrard Pharmasave has been a fun challenge. Our goal is to make pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding resources easily accessible to women in Vancouver. As a birth doula, I love having the opportunity to talk to parents about their options for birth and supporting […]
by Jessica Austin October 28, 2012 If you’ve been researching doulas and what they can offer during childbirth, you’ve probably read something like the following on a thousand websites: “Doulas offer resources and education during prenatal and postpartum visits, provide emotional and physical support as comfort measures during birth,and advocate for your birth choices” But […]
by Jessica Austin September 27, 2012 I spent some time yesterday practising a Spinning Babies technique with a current client preparing for a VBAC here in Vancouver. During the birth process, babies slowly shift and adjust, making small movements assisted by mom’s uterus to find just the right position for fitting through the pelvis. Some […]
by Jessica Austin January 10, 2013 According to Perinatal Services of BC, induction rates vary widely across the province and have been risen substantially since the early 90′s. . In 1991, 12.9% of births were induced, and by 2000 the rates were up to 27.2%. Current estimates continue to sit at around 25%. This is […]
by Jessica Austin December 13, 2012 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 […]
by Jessica Austin September 27, 2012 Watching birth videos is a great way to prepare for your upcoming birth. Birth Takes a Village has a youtube channel where you can find videos on educational birth topics, inspiring births, a bit of birth humour, and more. Below is our constantly updated playlist of positive birth videos. […]
flickr.com torisan3500 I’ve always been fascinated with the power of words. As a child, you’d have been hard-pressed to find me at a time when I didn’t have a book in my hand, engrossed in whatever world the words on paper brought me into, aware of how subtleties in language have the power to evoke […]
by Jessica Austin September 22, 2012 Encouraging your baby to turn head-down: Spinning Babies Website Natural measures for turning a breech baby Acupuncture for baby positioning Chiropractic care for baby positioning |Webster Technique (Find a Webster-Certified Chiro) Self-hypnosis track Medical procedure for turning a baby: ECV (External Cephalic Version) Video of ECV Vaginal Breech Birth: […]
by Jessica Austin July 26, 2012 Last night in our Free Monthly Prenatal Group, we got to talking about HypnoBirthing and Hypnobabies. These are the two most common “brands” of childbirth hypnosis, and they are getting increasingly popular as a method of preparing for birth. I’m a trained “hypno-doula”, meaning I’ve taken continuing education for […]
by Jessica Austin September 24, 2013 It’s common practice in our culture to have the partner cut the umbilical cord, playing a symbolic role in the birth by facilitating the final step in separating the baby from the placenta and welcoming him or her into the world as a new life, a new person. The […]
RSVP View event on Meetup Date Tuesday, September 3, 2013, 7:00 PM *This event is for my birth doula clients. If you are not a Birth Takes a Village Doula Client, please disregard this event! (What is Meet The Back-Up?) Meetup.com integration powered by Nuanced Media.
Setting up a resource section at Burrard Pharmasave has been a fun challenge. Our goal is to make pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding resources easily accessible to women in Vancouver. As a birth doula, I love having the opportunity to talk to parents about their options for birth and supporting them during breastfeeding in my day-job […]
