Hiring a doula (also referred to as a birth coach) for Liam’s birth was not something I ever gave any thought to. The reason is simple: I had a midwife who was hands on with me during every stage of labor, my husband is a firefighter, unaffected by blood and extreme pain, and my mother had […]

Labor probably won’t start with your water breaking all at once like it does in the movies. It might start with mild contractions (and your doctor might even need to break it himself) or with your water breaking… very little. Then it’ll most likely continue to break in little spurts. In my case, it broke so […]

I can’t believe Liam is already five days old! For my first post as a new mother, I thought I’d share my postpartum favorites. Although I was lucky enough to have a quick and healthy recovery (I was up walking less than an hour after delivering Liam), there are some things that have made my first […]

It’s funny that I didn’t consider a water birth during most of my pregnancy, despite water being my element… I grew up on an island and basically swam as early as I could walk (okay, not exactly, but pretty close…) Despite the fact that for my first baby I do not feel 100% ready for a […]

Medical induction of labor has been steadily increasing since the 1980’s. In the U.S., 25% of women are induced and 19.2% have their labors “accelerated” artificially (http://www.pregnancy.com.au/birth-choices/birth-information/birth-articles/inducing-labour-naturally.shtml). How do we know, as expecting mothers, whether an induction is truly an emergency or not? What other options do we have? Here are a few ways that […]

First, what is a birth plan exactly? It is a way for you to communicate your wishes to your doctor or widwives (how you would ideally want labor to go, the “environment” you want to be in (door closed, dim lights, music…), what you want to avoid during labor (epidurals and drugs, cesarean, episiotomy…) and afterwards (testing and […]

According to WebMD, a midwife is “a trained health professional who helps healthy women during labor, delivery, and after the birth of their babies.” They can assist your birth at home or in the hospital, if you prefer it. Women who choose midwives usually do so because they want a low intervention birth. This means that unlike […]

When I tell people (especially women) that I want to give birth without the use of drugs, their eyes usually widen and the first word out of their mouths is “ouch”. (Occasionally, though, I do get the “you go, girl!” or “that is so inspiring.”) But why, though? Why did I decide on a natural […]

For all of those mamas out there who want a natural birth, there will come a day when you will think to yourself, “Am I sure of what I am getting myself into?” or… “Am I insane?” This is absolutely normal and shouldn’t be a reason to doubt yourself — for years, our society has led us […]