Birth Story Doula Services
Riverside Dr E2A 2M7 Bathurst, NB, Canada

Do not let COVID-19 restrictions keep you wondering about prenatal information. Contact me for your free virtual initial consultation! Ne laissez pas les restrictions dues au COVID-19 vous priver de recevoir l'education prénatale dont vous avez besoin. Contactez-moi pour reserver votre rencontre d'approche virtuelle gratuite.

Quelque chose de bon est sorti de 2020! Je suis ravie de vous annoncer à toutes et à tous ... une NOUVELLE NAISSANCE! ...'roulement de tambour'.... https://www.facebook.com/DoulasNB Après quelques mois de travail intense (en fait, nous sommes toujours en travail!), certaines de mes amies doulas et moi vous présentons l'association officielle à but non lucratif DOULAS du NOUVEAU-BRUNSWICK (DNB). Notre raison d'exister est de: Sensibiliser le grand public aux avantages du souti...en des doulas périnatales par le biais de campagnes éducatives; Obtenir la reconnaissance de la profession de doula par nos institutions de gouvernance provinciales; Offrir un soutien et des conseils à nos membres, nouveaux ou chevronnés; Favoriser une relation de travail positive entre les doulas et les autres professionnels de la santé; Améliorer l'accessibilité aux services de doula périnatale dans les communautés du Nouveau-Brunswick. VEUILLEZ PARTAGER CETTE NOUVELLE JOYEUSE À TOUS CEUX QUE VOUS RENCONTREZ! Il y a plus à venir... See more

Something good DID come out of 2020! I am so thrilled to announce to all of you... a NEW BIRTH! ...drum roll.... https://www.facebook.com/DoulasNB After a few months of hard labour (actually, still labouring down!) some of my doula friends and I are delivering to you the official non-profit association of DOULAS OF NEW-BRUNSWICK (DNB). Our purpose for existing is: To increase general public awareness about the benefits of perinatal doula support through educational campaigns...; To attain recognition of the doula profession by our provincial governing institutions; To offer support and guidance to its members, new or seasoned; To foster a positive working relationship between doulas and other healthcare professionals; To improve accessibility to perinatal doula services in NB communities. PLEASE SHARE THIS JOYOUS NEWS TO ALL YOU MEET! There is more to come... See more

For your convenience, direct-billing is available to Blue Cross clients. Pour vous simplifier la vie, nous offrons la facturation directe pour les clients de la Croix Bleue.

Ne laissez pas les restrictions dues au Covid-19 vous priver de préparation à la naissance. Soyez informés!

'The viltalité Health Network is not aware of any request for the presence of doulas in their hospitals' Really? ‘ Le réseau de Santé Vitalité n’est pas au courant de demandes pour le support de doula dans leurs hôpitaux’ Vraiment?

Le saviez-vous? En 2019, 372 038 bébés sont nés au Canada; et dans 42 % des cas, les femmes étaient mères pour la première fois. Pour en savoir plus sur les n...aissances et les femmes qui sont devenues mères pour la première fois au Canada en 2019 : article analytique : http://ow.ly/j5TX50BEv9l infographie : http://ow.ly/n6oP50BEv9m.

Do not let Covid-19 restrictions prevent you from making informed decisions for your pregnancy and birth. Get educated!

On the importance of paternityl leave: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=392909368776234&ref=notif¬if_id=1600790611470627¬if_t=live_video

We are currently developing a website for the association and would like to include some quotes/testimonials about midwifery care. If you'd like to contribute, please comment here or DM us a testimonial you'd feel comfortable with us sharing on our website. Thank you!

Breastfeeding education also for parents.

The cervix is held in place by uterine ligaments. If these are tensed they may have an impact on the length of your labour and the intensity of discomfort. Bodywork such as chiropractic and osteopathic treatment during pregancy will help remedy to this condition. During pregancy and labour, Spinning Babies Side-lying Release (SLR) https://www.spinningbabies.com//techni/side-lying-release/ will cause these ligaments to stretch gently providing greater space in the pelvis for baby to navigate his descent.

An open letter sent to our riding's candidates and the political party leaders: To Whom It May Concern, My name is Isabelle Agnew and I’m a resident of Rusagoni...s, NB, just outside of Fredericton. On July 18th, 2020, I gave birth during a pandemic to my first child, Margaret Daisy Robichaud in my home in Rusagonis, assisted by two midwives, my partner, my mother, and my doula. With an election just weeks away, I am writing to you today to highlight why women’s reproductive health access should be a vital part of your campaign. As I’m sure you know, there are currently only 4 midwives working in New Brunswick, and they operate out of Fredericton. Until recently, in fact, there was only 1 midwife, as the rest were on leaves themselves. When I became pregnant in October, 2019, I did not have a family physician. As a result, I was forced to go to a walk-in clinic to get confirmation/seek out information on how to proceed with the pregnancy. At around 4 weeks pregnant, my partner and I attended a walk-in clinic in town where we told the doctor I believed I was pregnant after taking an at-home test. The doctor didn’t confirm anything; instead, he quickly told me to eat some Tums because they have calcium (and I’m still not clear why that was needed because I do consume dairy and other sources of calcium), and told me I was one of the lucky ones because being pregnant would mean I’d skip the waitlist for a family doctor. Then he sent us on our way. That was it. He didn’t confirm the pregnancy. He didn’t send me for blood work. He didn’t even ask me if I wanted to keep the pregnancy; he assumed I did and sent me on my way with no questions answered about how this would proceed. A few weeks later, my partner’s family physician agreed to take me on as a patient because I was pregnant and he sent me for the initial blood work at the hospital. When I saw him in December for the follow-up on the blood work, he said my numbers were normal, informed me I needed an MMR booster but couldn’t get it while pregnant so some nurse will just give it to you in the hospital when you give birth; you probably won’t even notice it because you’ll be so tired and bonding with your baby and then sent me on my way again. While my partner and I were excited about the pregnancy, I must say that at this point, the health care received was lack-luster to say the least. Appointments were rushed, we got very little information, and the information we did get was posed as a given, not an option (e.g. the doctor told me I would get the MMR booster in the hospital; although I would have chosen the MMR booster for myself, it was never actually presented as a choice). In January, however, I made it off of the midwifery waitlist, and I must say that the level of care I’ve received from the midwives since has been absolutely life-changing. Right away, I knew the level of care was different. Brittany, the only midwife working at the time, met with my partner and I in January and where earlier pregnancy appointments had been 10-15 minute affairs, the appointment with Brittany was a full hour. She listened to and answered our questions (including the most ridiculous ones), and she explained that under midwifery care, the priority was our desires and health. Informed consent is a fundamental value for midwives, so every decision made involves understanding all of the consequences of all of the options. Since that initial appointment, I’ve been under the care of all of the midwives currently working at the clinic, Brittany, Alicia, Ashley, and Melissa, and I have to reinforce that every single one of them has been fantastic and completely exceeded my expectations. I always looked forward to my appointments because of how amazing they were. In July 2020, as my due date approached, the conversation with the midwives turned towards what labour might look like. In case you’re unaware, first time mothers are commonly told to wait until contractions reach the rule of 4-1-1 before calling their health care provider or going to the hospital this means that contractions are 4 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute each, and that’s occurring for an hour. I was reminded of this rule over and over and told that before that, I could potentially have days or even weeks of irregular contractions, but I really need to wait for the 4-1-1 rule to call them (unless I’m concerned about something else before that). Well, let me tell you, my labour was an anomaly. From July 14th until the birth of my baby on July 18th, my contractions never got to the 4-1-1 rule. In fact, Alicia, the midwife who delivered my baby, said that even while pushing, when contractions are usually a minute or two apart, sometimes my contractions were up to 9 minutes apart. Some of my contractions were 30 seconds long, and some were minutes long. I had hours at a time where they were 5-7 minutes apart, and hours at a time where they were 20 minutes apart. They never followed a pattern, which meant it was hard for my birth team to declare I was even in active labour. By Friday, July 17th, I had reached my capacity on the pain because I had spent days without sleep due to the contractions and had minimal relief in that time. Alicia agreed to come to my home and check my progress. At this stage, I had completely resigned myself to the likelihood that I hadn’t progressed (again, because I had never reached the 4-1-1 rule) and that I would likely need to go to the hospital for an induction. However, Alicia got to my home and checked my progress to find I was 7cm dilated, in transition, meaning I wasn’t far off from pushing. My birth team immediately worked around me, a second midwife, Brittany, was called, and we all worked together to deliver the baby. At 2:18am on July 18th, after 82 hours of labour, Daisy was born. While completely atypical, my birth experience with the midwives was absolutely amazing. they walked me through everything happening to me, and took every opportunity to check in with me. I moved from pushing in the birth pool in my living room, to pushing on the toilet in my bathroom, to delivering my baby off the side of my bed in my bedroom. Every step of the way, my midwives were by my side, answering questions, helping me feel supported and cared for. When all was said and done, my partner and I were able to curl up in bed with our newborn while the midwives, my doula, and my mom swirled around us cleaning. After the place was cleaned up, the midwives and my doula slipped out the door, leaving a completely cleaned house behind and my partner and I were able to get to know our daughter in peace and quiet. I have to reinforce that the care I received from the midwives through the course of my pregnancy and during the postpartum period was absolutely, without a doubt, the best medical care I’ve ever received. I felt involved in my health from that very first appointment with Brittany in January, and I’ve felt supported in every way possible through this whole experience. Looking back on my labour experience, I feel that if I had gone through the traditional OB route with my pregnancy, it’s likely that I would have been induced and/or received a c-section to deliver my baby. Instead, however, I was supported through that abnormal experience to achieve the labour and birth experience I was striving for. The midwifery care I received goes above and beyond my expectations and I really must insist that every woman in the province deserves a chance at this care, not just the tiny group of women that come off the waitlist in the Fredericton area. Please, I implore you, this is an issue worth fighting for. Women and our healthcare are worth fighting for.

Les doulas fêtent le travail chaque jour!

Skin to skin for premies can be arranged...

Bonne Fête à tous les Acadiens! Petit conseil de Doula... si vous désirez garder l'Acadie vibrante et riche... faites des Acadiens!

https://ici.radio-canada.ca//doula-accompagnatrice-naissan

Has your ‘due date come and gone? Why the hurry? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1595289/

'In an emailed statement to CBC News, Geri-Geldart, vice-president clinical for Horizon Health, said patients can choose to have a second support person but only one can be in the building at a time.' Interesting but not very practical in real...

Depuis que cet article est sorti le support pendant la naissance à été rétabli au Québec et en Nouvelle-Écosse... au Nouveau-Brunswick nous attendons toujours!

Can’t breastfeed yet because your baby is premature? There are many obstacles put in the way of breastfeeding premature babies. See also Can’t breastfeed becau...se you are taking medications? Posted July 24. The attached photo shows a premature baby born at 28 weeks gestation and breastfeeding at the age of 10 days. Myth #1: premature babies need to live in incubators. Premature babies are more stable skin to skin with the mother than in an incubator http://ibconline.ca/premature1/ In fact, the sicker the baby the more this is true because skin to skin is what supports the physiological function of every system in the baby's body. The link http://ibconline.ca/premature1/lists several articles how Kangaroo Mother Care supports the physiological function of every system in the baby's body. Breastfeeding is much more likely to work well when the baby is in Kangaroo Mother Care. Myth #2: premature babies cannot breastfeed until they are at least 34 weeks gestation. Many premature babies can latch on and breastfeed (and receive milk) even by 28 weeks gestation and most well before 34 weeks gestation http://ibconline.ca/premature2/ See the attached photo. Myth #3: non-nutritive sucking is a good way to teach premature babies to breastfeed How does this make sense? There seem to be two reasons for some neonatal special care units to ask mothers to empty their breasts and only then put the baby to the breast. 1. To prevent the baby from accidentally getting milk before he is ready to suck and swallow, and thus aspirating milk. Why is a baby more likely to aspirate at the breast than from a bottle or nasogastric tube? And 2. So that the staff can measure how much the baby gets from the breast. Oh, we love to measure, but this process often results in mothers and babies never really breastfeeding successfully. This notion also supports the notion that premature babies need to use pacifiers to learn to suck before they are ready to swallow. Myth #4: Breastfeeding tires out premature babies (the same is said about term babies and babies with cardiac problems) This notion seems to come from the idea that babies transfer milk. But babies do not transfer milk . Mothers transfer milk http://ibconline.ca/who-transfers/. But starting with the notion that babies transfer milk, essentially, that babies suck milk out of the breast, breastfeeding is felt to be hard work and babies fall asleep at the breast because they tire out. Babies tend to fall asleep at the breast when the flow of milk slows down. Myth #5: Premature babies need to learn how to bottle feed before they can breastfeed This one is still around. Never made sense and still doesn’t. The use of bottles in NICUs usually results in very few premature babies leaving hospital exclusively breastfeeding. Myth #6: Most premature babies need human milk fortifier. Human milk fortifier is misnamed and is formula milk, and makes many, even health professionals, think that it’s made from breastmilk. Most such products are made from cow’s milk. Human milk fortifier has been associated with an increased risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). If a premature baby needs extra nutrients and/or volume, these can be given with banked breastmilk, which is used more and more in some, but not all, special care units. Want more information on breastfeeding the premature baby? See our eBook "Breastfeeding: Empowering Parents". The eBook contains videos, links to scholarly articles and more: https://ibconline.ca/ebook/. New! An audiobook of my book Dr Jack Newman’s Guide to Breastfeeding. https://www.audible.ca//Dr-Jack-Newmans-Guide-/1515933490

Well know birth experts gathered in this free summit until Aug 6th. Not to be missed!

Looking for a doula in New-Brunswick? À la recherche d’une accompagnante à la naissance au Nouveau-Brunswick? https://www.facebook.com/groups/FindADoulaNB/?ref=share

Share your comments on your birth experience in Canada...

Make sure you do not delay in booking your doula services for October, November and December...July, August and September are booked already. www.birthstory.ca Ne tardez pas à réserver vos services d'accompagnement à la naissance pour octobre, novembre ou décembre... juillet, août et septembre sont complets.

Birth Support Testimonial: https://doulamatch.net//profile/15585/pascaline-vanoplynus 'Pascaline's doula services were very important to me during my pregnancy and labor, especially since the Covid 19 pandemic broke out in the middle of my pregnancy. Many services/courses were cancelled at the hospital all of which I had signed up for and was counting on. Pascaline provided many resources on numerous topics that myself and my husband could educate ourselves on. This knowledge... gave me and my spouse peace of mind and confidence to face all the unknowns that a first time mom/dad faces. The tools pascaline was able to teach my husband to help support me for pain control and comfort during labour made all the difference to our experience. Also, having Pascaline present at our home during early labor was very comforting; her calm nature and support during this time was helpful to me and also to my husband. I only wish that the hospital would have recognized doula services as an essential support to expectant mothers and would have allowed pascaline into the labour room with us, but due to covid 19 she was unable to do so. I would highly recommend pascaline's doula services to any expectant mom who wants additional support and knowledge during her pregnancy. ' See more

Will we see a rise in postpartum depression as an effect of Covid-19? Prenatal, labour and birth as well as postpartum support have been seriously lacking in the past few months. We can not afford to not ask the question!