DONA conference 2008

I attended my first DONA conference this year and it was such a thrill to have the opportunity to actually meet Penny Simkin. She is as lovely as you imagine her to be!

OK...I did my bit for the environment and I've gone green. Ever since I starting teaching prenatal classes I have been sharing with my clients the cloth vs. disposable diaper information. I always used cloth diapers on my children, and now that I am a Nana, I finally made some cloth diapers for my grand babies when they come to visit.Here are some facts for your perusal:

Benefits of Cloth Diapers
Renewable
* Single-use life cycle of disposable diapers perpetuate their continued consumption, causing undue stress on our natural resources.
* the USA consumes an estimated 27.4 billion disposable diapers per year
* over 92% of all single-use diapers end up in a landfill
* over 300lbs. of wood and 50lbs. of petroleum feedstocks are used to produce disposable diapers for ONE baby EACH year.

Recyclable
* disposable diapers are not really biodegradeable which is why it is estimated that they take 250-500 years to decompose
* in 1991, an attempt to recycle disposable diapers was deemed economically unfeasible

Reusable!
* cotton diapers are not single-use diapers
* a family can expect to reuse cloth diapers 50 to 200 times before reusing them as rags

For more information please visit http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php

The Business of Being Born - Sneak Preview

THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN: A DOCUMENTARY FILM
"The Business of Being Born"
Special Sneak Preview
When: 6:00PM Saturday, March 1st
Where: Whitemud Crossing Library, Street:
4211-106 Street Edmonton, Alberta
Doors Open at 6:00 pm, film starts at 6:30 pm.
Limited Seating Available, please arrive early.

DIRECTED BY ABBY EPSTEIN AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY RICKI LAKE

In 2001, actress Ricki Lake gave birth to her second child with the assistance of a midwife in her home bathtub. She made the choice for a home birth after she experienced unwanted medical interventions while delivering her first child at a hospital birthing center. Ricki succeeded in giving birth on her own terms and the experience was so unexpectedly empowering and life-changing that she felt every woman should know what they could be missing out on.

Ricki approached filmmaker Abby Epstein to collaborate on a film that would examine birth culture in America, and ask questions about the way American women have babies.

Footage of women having babies punctuates THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN. Each experience is unique; all are equally beautiful and equally surprising.
Giving birth is clearly the most physically challenging event these women have ever gone through, but it is also the most emotionally rewarding.

Along the way, Epstein conducts interviews with a number of obstetricians, experts and advocates about the history, culture and economics of childbirth. The film's fundamental question: should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potential medical emergency?

As Epstein uncovers some surprising answers, her own pregnancy adds a very personal dimension to THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN, a must-see movie for anyone even thinking about having a baby!


Sponsored by ASAC & Birth Source Inc.

Woman Sings While In Labor

Talk about 'singing your baby down". This is beautiful!!!

Blessing the Way

A Mother Blessing is a wonderful alternative to a traditional baby shower. A Native American custom, blessingways centre around celebrating the pregnant woman and her upcoming rite of passage into motherhood. Each guest, because of her special relationship with the mother-to-be, is asked to bring a written blessing or thoughts about the upcoming birth, which will later be placed in a journal as a keepsake.
As the blessings are read, each guest places a bead on a necklace to represent the blessing. This necklace is then given to the mother as a visual tool to be worn or kept nearby while she is in labour - reminding her of all the positive wishes for her birth.


The mother blessing is usually facilitated by the doula who gathers the group in a circle. The mother's feet are soaked in a beautiful flower-laden tub of water to symbolize both the journey she is about to embark upon, and the fact that she is soon going to stand on new feet in her role a mother. She is crowned with a wreath of flowers so that she stands out as the most important woman in the room.

Once the blessings have all been read, the ceremony is closed by giving each guest some keepsakes that they be invited to call upon once the mother goes into labour. Knowing that there are many women thinking about her and sending positive thoughts her way can give great strength to her during her labour.
Everyone then gathers for refreshments and the mother opens her gifts. These gifts should be pampering gifts just for the mom to enjoy in the last days of her pregnancy and the first few weeks after the baby has been born.