“Raising a child is not an easy task and you constantly wonder if you are making the right/best decision. Watching my 12 yr old laugh, cry, dance, love and everyday becoming more rooted in who she is as a person, is a joy! Part of who she is, is due to parenting but more of it is due to who she is deep down. A human who hugs often, laughs a lot, dances her way through life and loves with her whole heart!”

“One way I have found to sneak some self care is whether or not I have appointments on a specific day, if my children have scheduled care away from the home, they go. If it ends up meaning a free day for me, I know I deserve that time, to do whatever it is I want to do. No guilt.”

We seek coaching in many different areas of our lives. We seek nutritional coaching. We seek coaching on pregnancy and birth. Every type of athlete has an experienced coach. We take lessons to develop every new skill from driving to cooking or photography. We seek advice on our health from a vast array of health professionals on issues ranging from nail fungus to cancer. What makes us believe that we can navigate being human in a sea of mental gymnastics seeking peace in complex life decisions, parenting or relationships without a coach? My answer is that we simply should not.

“A third baby….really?”  Asked everyone who had walked this journey with me.  I knew in my heart there was one more so I armoured up and got the candles back out.  I would be 38 years old within a few weeks of this birth so this made me a “geriatiric mom”.  Really?  That’s a thing?  Why yes it was, and now it was me; and my midwife had to work very hard to hold her poker face when I suggested a home birth.  I was a geriatric VBAC with a history of placenta accreta.  I can see the humour now.

Needless to say this was not at all the birth I imagined. Looking back I am able to see through the trauma to the many ways I was scared into making decisions that did not align with my values or my rights. My birth experience has strengthened my purpose as a doula and has proven to me the true value of educated, calm, and consistent support for all families in every stage of their parenting journey.

Nothing can prepare you for the sleep deprivation postpartum. After 57 hours of labour, we were walking zombies trying to feed Hudson, sleep and feed ourselves. Hudson struggled to latch which he has successfully learned with the help of an incredible lactation consultant and Osteopath! We couldn't have done it without their support!

How we eat, how we move, how we sleep, and how we think all have profound impacts on our overall health and resistance to disease.

Social distancing and proper hand washing are just two important aspects to keeping you well. Lets hear the messages our wise farming friends have been trying to remind us of while we have developed an amnesia around self-care and community-care. September is a perfect fresh start.

A mother's breastmilk is continuously changing to provide individualized nutrients and antibodies based on the baby's needs. The baby's saliva contains essential information which signals to the mother's body to produce exactly what the baby requires. If the infant is exposed to an infection, the mother's adaptive immune system produces antibodies through breastmilk to help the baby's not yet developed immune system fight off the invader. It is a specific nutrition plan perfectly designed for your child!

During pregnancy your daily nutritional requirements increase making it is a good time to boost up some of the essential nutrients needed to support you and your developing baby. Dr. Pamela Thornton shares her tips, her favourite Prenatal Vitamin and answers to some common questions.

Are you thinking about getting pregnant? Have you had your thyroid tested? If the answer to #1 is yes but the answer to #2 is no, this may be an important article for you to read.

Thyroid disease has a staggering prevalence in North America. Recent studies indicate that 1 in 10 Canadians suffer from some form of thyroid disease and as many as 50% are undiagnosed. The thyroid gland is a master gland located in your neck just above your collar bone that is important to every human being, but it’s role in pregnancy and infant health are of particular interest here.

Miscarriage and infant loss. So sad, painful and misunderstood we avoid talking about it all together. Because of this, there is a lack of information and support for the women going through it; whether it be education to understand and make an informed choice on what is best for your body or actual love and tenderness for the overwhelming emotions and sometimes physical discomfort that come with it.⠀⠀