Giving Birth With Confidence

The Rotunda , Ireland’s premier maternity hospital, and the recipient of awards on a regular basis, made the news recently announcing not only revised (and restrictive) visiting arrangements but a revised position regarding the involvement and access of birth partners and doulas. Due to its adherence to Health and Safety regulations and Security and Infection Control and because staff [...]

Out of the Dark: Transparency in Birth got us thinking that the whole issue of transparency, and transparency in birth, is “new” and, not surprisingly, controversial. With that in mind, we asked the Grassroots Advocacy Group, who are providing leadership for the Birth Survey Project for transparency in maternity care, to answer a few questions. Lisa Conforti, a birth [...]

The Dublin zoo announced the birth of a baby elephant in May. All of Ireland has been enchanted ever since and every few weeks there is a charming story about children visiting the new addition. I’ve been enchanted too…but for somewhat different reasons. The story of this sweet (almost 200 pound) baby girl, provides further support [...]

I was headed to Minnesota a couple of weeks ago to, among other things, be part of a young woman’s wedding, a family friend we’ve watched grow up. After a week’s camping honeymoon, the couple was headed to Wisconsin to work for the summer on a vegan farm. The folks who run the farm are [...]

I’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about how women’s bodies tell our birth stories. My thinking was stimulated by visiting a remarkable website, The Shape of a Mother. The  tagline is “Becoming a mother changes everything in your world, including your body”. What follows is a sharing, and a celebration of those changes. Check it out!
It’s incredible, [...]