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Cream. Goop. Stuff Everyone calls it something different. Eye cream Eye goop The eye stuff The eye antibiotics The actual name is erythromycin eye ointment and in Ontario it is mandated that it be administered to all newborns. The intention is to prevent infections in the eye called, ophthalmia neonatorum (ON). The most common source…

Did you know that reading to your child has enormous benefits? In addition to helping you to bond with your baby, reading lays the foundation for language, academic skills, and a love of books. At Toronto Family Doulas, we love books so much, we needed a Baler’s Dozen to just scratch the service of our…

  There is an important document that many new parents are forgetting. It is something so important, yet often overlooked.     I’m not talking about a will (although that’s important too!) or a birth plan (even though we can definitely talk about those), I am talking about a Post Partum Plan. It is normal to…

Sometimes, when people ask what we do, they ask a lot of questions. They’ve heard of doulas, but never hired one. One of the common ‘objections‘ we hear is “but how do you build rapport with someone in just a few meetings? Isn’t it just like inviting a stranger to your birth?” It’s not, and…

Have you ever noticed that pregnancy has a way of breaking down social boundaries? I mean, what other time in your adult life would it be acceptable for a complete stranger to ask intimate details about your body? Or worse, just come up and start touching you!   For whatever reason, there is something about…

…Or at least, when breast isn’t easy! Some of the most common questions a doula encounters are about breastfeeding. New mothers often ask “how do I breastfeed?”, and “how do I know if I have enough milk?” We are bombarded with messages and imagery about breastfeeding and the slogan “breast is best” and that breastfeeding…

“Oh my gosh, it’s bigger than his head!”   I had hoped that with the birth of my second son, and a lack of issues breastfeeding the second time around, that my life-long love/hate relationship with my breasts would shift definitively closer to “love”. Ever since puberty, which started earlier for me than most of…

  I’m done. I’m done being a doula. More specificially, I am done being a doula who accepts the current status quo.   I am done being part of a group that claims a sisterhood while stabbing each other in the back with hurtful words.     This is my letter of resignation from the…

You’ve struggled. It’s been months, or maybe years. You’ve watched friends and family blossom and glow and give birth. You’ve snuggled babies that weren’t yours. You’ve listened to friends complain about difficult labours, sleepless nights and the terrible twos.   You wished every single day that it was you. And now it is. Your time…

Another month, and another negative test. Another month of crying and telling my spouse “not this time”. Another cringe as the cashier smiles at me when I slide the pregnancy test across the counter, even though I know it will probably be negative. More pregnancy announcements on Facebook. More baby showers and birth announcements. And…