We share stories in much the same spirit that explorers share maps, hoping to speed each others journey, but knowing the journey we make will be our own.

New!  Birth As We Know It   10 minute trailer

 New! The Baby Place Video

New! What Every Pregnant Woman Needs to Know about   Cesarean Section

New!  Labour  massage

I originally had a link to another article (which has since been removed) by a graduate of a medical school in the US in which he described how students would line up in the surgery to do pelvic (vaginal) exams on anesthetized women without their knowledge or consent.  I likened this to gag rape. If you need surgery read the fine print and know that if you authorize a pelvic exam: this means a vaginal exam while you are unconscious. Most hospitals in Canada have added this clause in the last few years but I would guess the majority of patients don't read or understand what they're consenting to.   Before deciding on a caregiver ask him/her  how s/he learned the art of pelvic exam and make your decisions accordingly.

What midwives want from their clients

New! Routine urine dip stick testing Is it necessary?

Developing your birth plan

Birth Plan by Janine DeBaise

Declaration of the Rights of Childbearing Women

Sample Homebirth Birth Plan (includes plan for transfer to hospital)

Printable interactive birth plans from >> childbirth.org or babycentre.com

Depression

During pregnancy

Nutrition

Dr. Tom Brewer's Blue Ribbon Baby pages

Ultimate smoothies

Ultrasound
Technology has turned the fetus into a patient, reducing the mother to being the 'maternal environment' and preventing attachment until after the ultrasound has shown the fetus to be 'normal.'

Conflicts of Interest: Understanding the Safety Issues Around Prenatal 3-D Ultrasound

Scans may disrupt fetal brain development

Fetuses can hear ultrasound examinations

Ultrasound alert

SOGC Guideline:  Biological effects and safety

Pregnancy & Birth

Vaginal infections in pregnancy

Birth Psychology >> Life before birth & The birth scene

Herbs for pregnancy and birth

Belly mapping and "spinning" OP babies into an optimal birthing position

If your baby is breech

5 years to the Term Breech Trial. The rise and Fall of a Randomized
Controlled Trial. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Jan 2006

Exploration of Specific Identified Risk Factors in Healthy Women – Breech, VBAC

The importance of labour support

Stages of labour What happens during labour and when does it begin?

About Narcotics for pain relief

A Photographic Record of the Physiological Management of Normal Childbirth

Nonpharmalogical Approaches to Relieve Labor Pain (Intradermal Water Blocks & others)

Exercise to reduce labour pain

Postdates pregnancy [Midwifery Today e-News)

Alternative to suturing 

Group B Strep

Treating Group B Strep: Are Antibiotics Necessary?

Are We Using the Optimal Strategy for GBS Management in Pregnancy? SOCG Editorial

Homebirth – Is it right for you?

Home Delivery--Why?  by Michael F. Fleming, MD

New! Homebirth: What are the issues?

Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives [CPM]:
large prospective study in North America. British Medical journal (BMJ)

Outcomes of planned home births versus planned hospital births after regulation of midwifery in British Columbia. Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ)

Interpretation: There was no increase in maternal or neonatal risk associated with planned homebirth under the care of a regulated midwife. However, women who gave birth at home attended by a midwife had fewer interventions during labour compared with women who gave birth in hospital attended by a physician ...

Healing Through Homebirth; a birth story

Homebirth Colouring Book for siblings

Waterbirth

Waterbirth International's home page

Waterbirth Basics From Newborn Breathing to Hospital Protocols

Current Research  Current Research, Facts, Tips and References

Perinatal mortality and morbidity among babies delivered in water: surveillance study and postal survey BMJ August 1999

Immersion in water in pregnancy, labour and birth, Cochrane review, 2006

Nonpharmacological Approaches to Relieve Labor Pain (water immersion)

Kiddie pool?

Birth pool rentals

VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Caesarean)

A Butcher's Dozen by Nancy Wainer VBAC researcher, author, CBE and midwife.

 Edmonton VBAC Support Association & discussion group

Midwifery Today's VBAC forum

VBAC in California: Before and After a Change in Guidelines (1996-2002). 
Conclusion: Neonatal and maternal mortality rates did not improve despite increasing rates of repeat cesarean delivery.
Annals of Family Medicine 4:228-234 (2006)

VBAC birth stories

Breastfeeding

Getting breastfeeding right

Dr. Newman's Breastfeeding Protocols and more

Circumcision

Canadian circumcision site

Circumcision Information & Resource Pages

Circumcision video

Graphic images of circumcision surgery

Altering Baby Boys' Bodies. The Ethics of Infant Male Circumcision

Fertility Awareness and Natural family planning

Justisse method eBook

Serena, Sympto-Thermal Method (STM) of Natural Family Planning

Genetics

Family History  tool

Baby's eye colour predicition

In the News

Ottawa team uncovers clue to cause of stillbirths, July 18, 2005.

Wait to cut umbilical cords: study, Tues, March 20th, 2007

Herstory of Midwifery

New! Midwifery's Renaissance Dismissed, disrespected, and hunted like witches, midwives are finally being recognized -but misunderstandings and myths endure

History of the "Midwife Problem"

Car Seats may be dangerous
Because lowering of oxygen saturation values was seen uniformly in all newborn infants, car seats should be used only for travel, and travel should be minimized during the first months of life.

Other tidbits

Yeast infections  DIY treatments

Is our pursuit of a bacteria-free world making us sick?

Infant Sign Language

ASL learn and test

Books on baby signing

Professional

Understanding Growth

Alberta Association of Midwives

Where to purchase midwifery supplies, books, videos

Hard to find herbs, Peggy Glover, Spruce Grove, Phone: 960-9373

Back to Yayamama Midwifery home