Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Support Network”
By Deborah MacNamara Life is not possible without attachment. We all begin as cells that embed themselves in our biological mother’s womb, with her body providing a warm and safe place for them to multiply and divide. The cellular transformation is breathtaking and provides a beautiful window to watch life unfold through connection. As the umbilical cord emerges in early …
By Tiffany Sostar By now, many of us may have learned that Shakespeare wrote King Lear in a plague time, Sir Isaac Newton did some of his best work during a year of quarantine and Edvard Munch continued to paint not only during, but having contracted, the Spanish Flu. Some of us follow Louise Erdrich’s advice by keeping a list …
Sex and babies. You almost always have one to make the other. But that’s where the conversation seems to end. There isn’t a lot of discussion about sex during the process of conception, pregnancy and after baby. We wanted to have an open and honest conversation on the topic, so we spoke to an expert. Thirty-three-year-old Jenna Nakamura is a …
When my husband Dustin and I decided we wanted to start a family, we were faced with a very difficult truth: I have polycystic ovarian syndrome which would make it almost impossible to get pregnant without intervention. I was devastated, but Dustin, being the constant optimist that he is, knew we would get through it whatever the outcome. With the …
Some moments of Lake’s birth are very clear to me still, some are very vague, some time frames are unclear as they seemed to be racing by, but nobody was watching a clock. On January 4th I woke up with contractions that seemed to be gathering steam. The contractions faded throughout the afternoon and then stopped. I had contractions and …
My fourth little one was born at home. She was my first home-birthed baby. My first was a c-section due to breech, my second and third (twins) were a breech hospital vbac. With baby four, we decided to go with midwives for the personal relationship and their acceptance of our desire for a natural birth. When the time came, our …
After I married my husband, I often imagined what our future would be like together. I pictured what our home life would be like. A steady stream of chaos with kids going to and fro, countless activities, gadgets littered about the yard, leaving no question to onlookers that kids were being raised there. I thought of what my husband would …
My pregnancy test was negative. I asked my mom what could be wrong with me as I had to pee all the time! She looked me straight in the eye and said, “It is because you are pregnant with twins.” I assured her I was not and asked for other suggestions to determine the cause of my new discomfort. She …
Maybe it was serendipitous, maybe it was Murphy’s Law. Either way, my husband Dan and I were both shocked when my water broke at 4:00 a.m. on Christmas morning. This baby, our second child, was not due until January 4, but here I was on Christmas morning sitting in a puddle of amniotic fluid. When I woke Dan up, he …
Choosing the right caregiver when you become pregnant can be overwhelming as well as difficult. In the past, financial considerations had often been the deciding factor in choosing caregivers to support you during birth. A doula may cost around $1,000. Hiring midwives used to cost around $3,500. However, midwifery services are now covered within our provincial health care insurance plan. …
