Last month I posted about the many physiological benefits for moms and babies that can be reaped by exercising during pregnancy. As promised, this post is a (somewhat delayed!) follow-up to that one, in which I’ll be exploring the concept of ‘body trust’. What does that mean? How does exercise help us get it? And why does it matter? Read on to learn more! Continue reading
Too busy to attend a six-week prenatal series? Then you’re in luck! Due to popular demand I am now offering weekend prenatal courses at CSI Annex (720 Bathurst St.). Email me now to register!
The first weekend course will be held Saturday March 16th and Sunday March 17th, 2013 from 10am to 5pm.
The course is $240 per couple.
Topics will include (but are not limited to):
-pain management and coping strategies for labour
-the physiology of labour and birth
-positioning for labour and birth
-risks and benefits of common interventions
-breastfeeding
-newborn care, characteristics and abilities
-parenting options
Education is the key to having a birth experience in which you feel confident, calm and in control.
I still have room left in the prenatal series beginning on Tuesday, January 8th at CSI Annex (720 Bathurst St.). This is a six-week course, running from 6:30-9pm Tuesday evenings.
Register now! heather@socialinnovation.ca
Check out my brand new referral program. Now, not only will you be helping a loved one find support for a satisfying, empowering birth experience, you’ll also get a treat for yourself!
I will have two new prenatal education series’ starting in the new year for those expecting a baby between late February and early April, 2013. Classes at the Centre for Social Innovation (Annex) will be on Tuesday evenings, from 6:30 – 9pm, beginning January 8th. Classes at Women’s College Hospital will be on Wednesday evenings, from 6:30 – 9pm, beginning January 9th. Both courses are six weeks in length. You can choose the series that best suits you in terms of day and location.
In taking the role of prenatal instructor at Women’s College, one of my top priorities was that I would be able to use my own curriculum and that there would be no imposition of a hospital agenda upon my prenatal course content. In other words, these two courses will be identical in content and will focus on preparing for birth as a normal, healthy experience that can be anticipated and experienced without fear and in a calm an relaxed manner. We will also cover topics related to the postpartum phase and parenting.
To register for the course at CSI Annex (Tuesdays), email me at heather@socialinnovation.ca. To register for the WCH course (Wednesdays), email janelle.noel@wchospital.ca or call 416-323-6494.
For more info on topics that will be covered, hit the jump! Continue reading
I’m excited to post another lovely testimonial from a recent client!
I was initially hesitant to hire Heather due to her age and perceived lack of experience. However, after our first meeting with her and our subsequent experiences we couldn’t be happier with her expansive knowledge on not only birth coaching but everything you could ever want to know about pregnancy, labour, birth and post partum (we had her not only for our doula but also our prenatal class teacher). The enthusiasm she has for what she does is apparent in her thirst for knowledge and connection to the community.
I recently acquired an Obi-TENS unit to use with my clients. Many women swear by these devices as an alternative to pain medications and I am really excited to begin using it in my practice! They are frequently used by physiotherapists for helping individuals manage musculoskeletal pain and to help encourage blood circulation. As for use in labour, they tend to be very popular in the UK, where many hospitals have them available. In North America you need to have a doula who has one or buy one of your own. The unit is controlled by the birthing woman, which is helpful in encouraging her to feel in control and like an active participant, rather than a passive ‘patient’. As many of you are, I’m sure, aware, research shows that a sense of control is the key factor in how women report feeling about their birth experiences days, weeks and even years later.
Check out this handy blogpost about how TENS works for labour: http://www.meghanprice.ca/2012/11/03/handheld-magic-elle-tens-machine/
As many of you are already aware, I was recently hired to teach prenatal education classes at Women’s College Hospital here in Toronto. I’m very excited about this opportunity as I hope that it will allow me to reach many more women and their partners, from more diverse walks of life. I firmly believe that education is a vital component of a healthy pregnancy, a positive and empowering birth experience and a strong start as new parents. Taking group classes over a six-week period gives you the opportunity to make new connections with other parents-to-be and affords you the time to absorb the wealth of information and ensure that your questions are addressed.
Another reason that I am excited about teaching at WCH is that they are permitting me to run the courses using my own curriculum – in other words, the content will be the same as it would be in any other location where I teach. This means that my students will not have to worry about anyone else’s agenda interfering with the education they need to make informed choices. All of the content in my courses is firmly based in current, reliable evidence and respects a woman’s ability to know her body and to give birth with confidence and strength.
Unlike most other hospital prenatal classes, you do not need to be a patient at WCH. Regardless of where your midwife or doctor has privileges and whether you are planning a hospital birth or a home birth, you are welcome to register.
For more information or to register, please visit the WCH website. My courses are on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm (until 9). The first series begins November 14th.
I am very pleased and excited to announce that, just today, I was offered a job as a prenatal instructor at Women’s College Hospital here in Toronto! I’ll be teaching an evening class, weekly, likely starting in September.
I’m really psyched about this opportunity. I’m also thrilled that WCH is letting me use my own curriculum, which means that women accessing prenatal education through the hospital will receive the same quality, evidence-based information that I provide to my students when I teach as an independent CBE. Not having to teach to the “typical experience” was really important to me, as I firmly believe that women are capable of and entitled to better than the standard base level of care that most women are receiving today. I am also really jazzed, because unlike every other hospital in Toronto, WCH opens their classes up to all women, not just those who are patients at their own hospital. In other words, if your OB or midwife is at St. Joe’s or Mt. Sinai or Scarborough General or any other hospital in the city, you can still take childbirth education classes at WCH!
I’ll post more once I have more info on the date that my first WCH series will be starting and other relevant stuff. Can’t wait!
Empowered Birth 