Speak up about YOUR health care!

I received an e-mail today about a new survey trying to improve women’s health care in Ontario. As a doula, I often hear stories about how people were treated by health care professionals, not to mention my own personal experiences.

This survey is part of a project called Health Research and Knowledge Translation: Including the Voices of Ontario Women. This project is being carried out by a partnership that includes the Ontario Women’s Health Network, and is under the guidance of an Advisory Committee. The project is funded by Echo: Improving Women’s Health in Ontario, an agency of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

The province of Ontario wants to include the voices of all women and strongly encourage women who are often under represented in the mainstream to participate.

Let’s improve women’s health care today by taking this anonymous survey. Don’t forget to send it to your friends and have them participate too – together we can make a difference. We can get the health care we need and deserve!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/womenhealth

The survey is only up until June 27th!

Doulas for All Women

I am currently preparing for Welcome Wagon’s Baby Shower in Toronto this weekend. I will be speaking about how a doula can be a great part of your birth. I can’t help but reflect on the role a doula plays for different people.

Sometimes a doula takes a very hands-on role and provide massage, acupressure, provide options for comfort positions. Other times, we are the person who can bring items to a woman who may be on fetal monitors or have an epidural. We can help partner or other friends and family become engaged with the woman in labour.

A doula is a person who is there just for you. We won’t be running out to check on someone in the next room and we won’t leave because the other staff are done their shift. We meet you before the baby is born and find out what you are comfortable with, learn about your family and listen to your anxieties or fears. We also don’t disappear after the baby is born. Doulas stay with you, help establish breastfeeding, make sure that you are comfortable after birth and even visit you at home with your new family member.

We are a great link to the community you live in. Doulas take the time to research, speak to other professionals in the area and become well acquainted with the services available in your area.

A doula is also a person you can call when you aren’t sure what your options are. There are so many birthing options today that it can be difficult to know which was is for you. The doula won’t tell you what is best in your situation but instead, present you with options including the risks and benefits of each of them. We also give you more information on them so you can do some research too.

Doulas are people who believe in your ability to birth in ways that are comfortable for you. Doulas are not just for women who want a natural birth. Women who plan epidurals and c-sections can still benefit greatly from having a doula.

There is a doula for every woman – no matter your plans, your spiritual beliefs, your physical ability…you deserve a doula who will get to know you and help you have the birth that makes you happy, no matter how it happened.

If you have questions about what a doula can do for you and your plans, come on out to the Baby Shower! Everyone who attends can enter the draw for a deluxe labour support kit when you visit my table!