Tag Archives: Childbirth
A scree on Andre Picard’s recent op ed…
I don’t think I’ve written a post in a while…more than a year? I’ve been busy. But something recently inspired me to come out of my “retirement,” and that something was Andre Picard’s piece in the Globe and Mail, “It’s time to stop treating pregnancy like a disease.” It is so egregious, so ignorant and […]
Labour day / wedding day?
Whenever I’ve settled myself, in a semi reclined position, toddler sleeping, with a fashion magazine and a glass of something delicious (which isn’t very often, lets be honest given the amount of dishes and laundry and other mundane household tasks that are created by one adult, one toddler, another adult that eats like a todder and […]
2 cm, 8/10
Okay, so back in the 1980s and 1990s there were a bunch of crappy poorly controlled observational studies that showed that epidurals in labour were associated with a slowing of labour and an increase in caesarean deliveries. The ACOG then came out with a statement that it would be better to wait to initiate epidural […]
A more friendly kind of c-section…
First off, let me say that the caesarean section (CS), as a piece of technology, impresses me. Greatly. It has saved countless moms and babies from death and significant disability. Without the CS, my husband wouldn’t have been born alive and his mom would most certainly have died (placenta previa). It doesn’t take long to […]
BC Minister of health makes short-sighted and inaccurate remarks…
In a piece in the Victoria Times Colonist a few days ago in relation to an increase in funding for home birth in British Columbia, the Hon. Dr. Margaret MacDiarmid, BC’s Minister of Health, made some very disturbing remarks. MacDiarmid, the former president of the B.C. Medical Association, is encouraging women with low-risk pregnancies to […]
A birth story…I have you to thank for my epidural
I wanted to share with everyone this letter I received from a reader because I think she brings up some important points about the culture our society has created around birth and what should be some very personal decisions made between a woman and her care provider. I share this with you with her […]
Is pain relief part of “normal birth?” Obstetricians, midwifes and birth activists in the UK don’t think so.
On the 14th of August the Royal Collage of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of the UK, in collaboration with The Royal College of Midwives and the National Childbirth Trust (or NCT) released a document entitled, “Making sense of commissioning maternity services in England – some issues for clinical commissioning groups to consider.” The founder of the […]
A perfectly reasonable request.
The last time I was on call I went walking through the maternity unit/ LDR. I do this every time I’m on call, not because I’m “trolling for work” or trying to find an impressionable woman in labour that I can foist an epidural on, nope it’s part of “resource management.” See, in the middle of […]
Saturday ranty rant rant – celebrities and “natural” birth
This is probably not the kind of rant you might be expecting from reading the title as it’s not directed at Ricky Lake and “The Business of Being Born,” about which I could say plenty. I’m not really sure Ricky is even a celebrity anymore but nevermind, I’ve already wasted enough words on her. Nor […]
What I’ve been reading…the Women’s Health and Education Center
I stumbled across this site run by the Women’s Health and Education Center which is associated with the UN. And I really really dig it. Some choice quotes: “The use of techniques and medications to provide pain relief in obstetrics requires an expert understanding of their effects to ensure the safety of both mother and fetus. Positive attitudes […]
theadequatemother 