My philosophy...

This is adapted from a blog called NURSING BIRTH.

Just to reiterate, I am acting as a doula in these capacities and not as a registered nurse or an employee of any organization. My doula care philosophy is to provide my clients with the safest, happiest, and healthiest pregnancy, birth, and post partum periods.

Thanks to the Nursing Birth blog for the philosophy, when you can't find the words sometimes it's best to turn to the internet.

My Personal and Professional Birth, Breastfeeding, and Advocacy Philosophy



Pregnancy, Birth, & Breastfeeding

1) I believe that pregnancy and birth are normal, healthy processes and should not be treated as illness or disease.

2) I believe women and babies have the inherent wisdom necessary for birth.

3) I believe that pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period are milestone events in the continuum of life that profoundly affect women, babies, fathers, and families, and have important and long-lasting effects on society.

4) I believe that breastfeeding provides the optimum nourishment for newborns and infants which does NOT mean that I am not grateful for the advancements in artificial milk for those mothers and infants who truly require it.

5) I believe that every woman has the right to virtually uninterrupted contact with her newborn from the moment of birth, as long as she and her baby are healthy and do not need care that requires separation.

6) I believe that for the majority of women, VBAC (or vaginal birth after cesarean) is a safe option that should be available to all women in all birth settings who safely qualify.



The Obstetric vs. Midwifery Model of Care

7) I believe that uncomplicated, healthy pregnancies far outnumber pregnancies that have complications and hence, the technology and techniques utilized to maintain the safety of mother and baby in high risk pregnancies should not be automatically or routinely applied to low risk pregnancies.

8.) I believe that the current maternity and newborn practices in Canada that contribute to high costs and inferior outcomes include the inappropriate application of technology and routine procedures that are not based on scientific evidence.

9) I believe that although you cannot make blanket generalizations about the model of care that a birth attendant follows just by their credentials, typically speaking I believe OBGYNs tend to follow an obstetrics model of care while midwives tend to follow a midwifery model of care based on the very nature of their education. After all, obstetricians are surgical specialists trained in the pathology of pregnancy and women’s reproductive organs.

10) I believe that per the very nature, philosophy, and experiences of medical education/obstetrical residency and midwifery education/apprenticeship, midwives should be the only health care providers attending normal, healthy, uncomplicated labors & births while obstetricians should be called to consult or transfer care to if and only if a problem or complication out of the scope of midwifery practice arises.

11) I believe that women need access to professional midwives whose educational and credentialing process provides them with expertise in out-of-hospital birth as well as hospital-based and clinical care that extends beyond the childbearing cycle.

12) I believe that midwives can obtain quality education and experience in a variety of ways and programs, including certified nurse midwifery and direct-entry midwifery.

13) I believe that integrity of the mother-child relationship as well as the safety of our mothers and babies is compromised by the pervasive over-medicalized, obstetrics model of maternity care in this country.



Interventions & Natural Birth

14) I believe that research supports the reality that both a mother’s body as well as her baby will initiate the beginning of labor when the baby is ready to be born and that women should not have their labor induced for any elective reason unless the health of the woman or baby is found to be in immediate danger if the pregnancy is allowed to continue.

15) I believe that empowering and safe births can and do take place in a variety of settings including birth centers, hospitals, and homes.

16) I believe that every woman should have the opportunity to give birth as she wishes in an environment in which she feels nurtured and secure and her emotional well-being, privacy, and personal preferences are respected, whether that be in a hospital, birthing center, or at home.

17) I believe the research supports that a minimal to no intervention, medication free, spontaneous vaginal delivery is the safest birthing option for the vast majority of both mothers and babies.

18) I believe that the obstetrical model of maternity care plus a pervasive North American cultural phenomenon that teaches women to fear childbirth, doubt their innate ability and power to give birth, and be ashamed of their bodies and their sexuality is responsible for many women opting relinquish all control over their birth experiences to others and consent to unnecessary interventions that seem to provide a way to escape.

19) I believe that every woman has the right to create her own birth plan and that her birth attendants and labor companions have the responsibility to assist her in making it a reality as best and safely as they can. I also understand that for some women, their birth plan does not include a medication or intervention free labor and childbirth and I support this as long as the women has been provided with informed consent, including all the risks and benefits of her requests.



Autonomy & Empowerment

20) I believe women are entitled to complete, accurate, and up-to-date information that is supported by evidenced based research on their full range of options, including all procedures, drugs, and tests suggested for use during for pregnancy, birth, post-partum and breastfeeding.

21) I believe that women have a right to make health care decisions for themselves and their babies and that this right includes informed consent as well as informed refusal.

22) I believe that interventions (i.e. many standard medical tests, procedures, technologies, and drugs including narcotic medications for pain relief in labor, epidurals, labor inductions, primary & repeat cesarean sections) should not be applied routinely during pregnancy, birth, or the postpartum period and in my opinion should be avoided in the absence of specific indications and true necessity for their use.

23) I believe that said interventions have life saving potential and are necessary in certain circumstances (which I am entirely grateful for) but are often abused and misused.

24) I believe that maternity care practice should not be based on the needs of the caregiver or provider, but solely on the needs of the mother and child.

25) I believe that every woman has the right to health care before, during and after pregnancy and childbirth.

26) I can admit that (probably related to my educational background, experiences, and values) I am not entirely comfortable with the “free-birth” or “unassisted childbirth” movement but I can also admit that I know little to nothing about the movement and I am open-minded to learning more.

27) I believe that every woman has the right to receive continuous social, emotional and physical support during labor and birth from a caregiver who has been trained in labor support and I believe that the current obstetrical education in this country does not train physicians to provide labor support.

28) I believe that every women has the right to have how ever many supportive labor companions and birth attendants of her choice (as she deems necessary) attend her labor and birth, has the right to change her mind at any time, and has the right to decline the care or presence of any unnecessary personnel during her labor and birth.



In closing, I am NOT anti-obstetrician, anti-hospital, anti-intervention, anti-induction, anti-epidural, anti-pain medication, or anti-cesarean. Quite the contrary I am PRO the appropriate use of such interventions when they are necessary to support the health and safety of the mother-baby unit and facilitate a safe and empowering (hopefully vaginal) birth. I have found my passion in assisting women and families during the intrapartum period and my number one goal in my job is to support, facilitate, and encourage a natural-as-possible, empowering, and safe birth experience, however that may be, for all those involved.