Helping Hands and Heart Birth Services

Breastfeeding. Since the beginning of people, breasts are the biological norm. Not best. Normal! Over the past decade and a half, I have been teaching mamas-to-be about this miracle. I have also on occasion been given the opportunity to teach others how to determine what is going well and what isn't--and even, teaching nurses simple ways to empower brand new moms in their innate ability! But one thing I have been aware of over and over is this: I am very uncomfortable with teaching moms "The Right Way" to breastfeed! DVD's and visuals, videos and posters all claim to teach "The Right Way" to breastfeed. Myself, I am a firm believer in not fixing something that ain't broke! So. How do we counteract this? Like so many things with birth, we figure there is a better way developed over time. We believe that we can create a better posture, a better pillow, a better hold. Many years ago, I had the privilege of attending a workshop taught by Dr. Jack Newman. H...

Ever notice, you get a group of women together, they share their birth stories? Ever notice, many of those stories have little or no positive aspects? Having worked with birthing women for the last decade or two, I have a few thoughts. The chat goes something like this: "My labour was awful! It started in the middle of the night, then I got absolutely no sleep for the next 46 hours while I laboured!" Or "It was awful, I laboured for 25 hours, then I pushed forEVer, then I didn't sleep for hours after, even though I was EXHAUSTED" You can fill in more blanks, I am sure! But I wonder, where does this need to compete for the worst birthing experience come from?  The competition thing. It doesn't begin with birth! It doesn't end there, either- women are competitive in so many areas! But for sake of discussion, today let's look at birth itself! I have noticed that women have very little or no experience in birth prior to their own first birthing experi...

For some time, I have been ignoring the pressing need to write- but today is a new day and today, I write!  I have been wanting to create a new blog just for birthing and birthing business. for those who follow my Facebook pages, you will know that I love evidence based practice, research and the wisdom that comes from research becoming best practices, based on the knowledge of women and how their bodies are designed well to give birth. I will be writing on different issues, similar themes. These may become intentional, such as Mondays devoted to labour, Tuesdays breastfeeding, Wednesdays current research--we shall see! But in the meantime, let me introduce me! Beginning with my own birth stories, my own history is nearly 31 years old. I was intrigues by the female body's capacity for birth and sought to understand all I could. I had all my children as naturally as possible in hospital settings. My intention was to seek out medical support from as natural a perspective as possible...