Blog & Updates on Vancouver Prenatal Classes
Editorial: The High Caesarean Rate
The World Health Organization states that the Caesarean rate should ideally hover around 10%. Anything lower means parents and babies who might benefit from Caesarean births are not getting enough access, and anything higher means too many surgeries are being performed without any improvement in maternal or newborn outcomes.
Q: How do I know if I really need a medical procedure?
Q: How do I know if I really need a medical procedure? I’m worried about being subjected to unnecessary procedures, but also worried about refusing something I might actually need. How do we make these decisions?
Ecstatic Belly Birth!
In keeping with the Ecstatic Birth approach, Caesarean birth has the potential to be positive, empowering and ecstatic! How is this possible, you may ask? Having an Ecstatic Birth isn’t based on a particular set of circumstances, a specific outcome, or about birthing in a certain way. Ecstatic Birth is an invitation to turn our relationship to birth upside down and inside out to provide a pathway to feeling empowered, joyful and connected.
Childbirth-Related Trauma and PTSD
Being traumatized during childbirth is much more common than most people think. Unfortunately, trauma is one of the hidden costs of childbirth, a cost that women often bear in silence and without recognition or support.
Unexpected but Wonderful: My Caesarean Birth Story
I gave birth to a baby girl named Ellie on November 2nd, 2020. My birth story turned out a bit different then I had originally planned, and planned I did.
What is the effect of Covid isolation on my newborn?
Question:
Covid has been really isolating for us as new parents. I’m worried our baby isn’t getting the opportunity to get comfortable with anyone except us, since we’re not having visitors at this time. Shouldn’t babies be held by lots of people, to get them used to it?
The Power (And Pleasure) Of Loving Touch In Labour And Birth
“Humans are wired to be touched. From birth until the day we die, our need for physical contact remains. There are studies showing that touch signals safety and trust, it soothes. Basic warm touch calms cardiovascular stress. It activates the body’s vagus nerve, which is intimately involved with our compassionate response, and a simple touch can trigger release of oxytocin, aka “the love hormone.”
Easy Peasy Baby Squeezie
The first thing I want to write is ‘you’ve got this’. So many parents are nervous about doing the wrong thing or hurting their babies while giving them a massage, but you have dressed and undressed your baby, given them a bath, changed their diaper, rocked them, fed them, kissed and cuddled them all without hurting them. You’ve got this!
Moms Helping Their Female Partners Through Pregnancy
All of the points discussed by Cameron Phillips directed at soon-to-be Dad’s on how to support your partner through pregnancy are true if you are a woman (or woman identified person). Though harder to admit as a lesbian, even the ‘embrace your inner cave man’ resonated with me. I remember many times feeling and behaving in a very protective way around my partner while she was pregnant.
So, all of you ladies who love ladies who are starting families, the advice to the Dad’s should be taken to heart as well.
I would like to add a few additional points of advice on how to support your pregnant partner, relevant to both men and women.
10 Things Future Dads Should Know About Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a HUGE deal for your wife.
While you may from time to time forget your wife is pregnant, your wife does not. She is changing physically, mentally and hormonally. Dads need to be involved as possible—go to medical appointments, rub cream on her belly, talk to the baby, ask her questions regularly about how she’s feeling. When you are exhausted, try to remember that she is probably even more so. And when the enthusiasm is waning, fake it.
The Benefits of Yoga During Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a time when women can switch focus from the busy-ness of life to take more time to care for ourselves -- our bodies and our minds. Life will change significantly when the baby arrives and yoga can provide women with a solid foundation on which to nurture their bodies and minds, and create a pathway to a healthy pregnancy, delivery, and recovery.
Yoga provides many, many benefits, but central to pregnant women, its benefits include: increased muscle tone, improved flexibility, greater physical comfort, and enhanced mental and emotional stability – all helping to create an overall sense of wellness and peace.