Name: Emily Tashjian Age: 26 Mother of One Greyson (18 months) Profession: Doula and Yoga Instructor Birth Experience As a trained Doula I felt very empowered during my pregnancy that I had all of the knowledge necessary to have a natural home birth. At my 39 week check in I had a single high blood pressure reading which resulted in an induction, artificial membrane rupture, pitocin, 14 long hours of natural labour, and ultimately an emergency belly birth. 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 ..read more

Name: Jenn Pullen Age: 44 Mother of 1 daughter Mackenzie (12) Profession: Registered Massage Therapist Birth Experience My birth experience was as good as one could hope for! It was a quick birth, by the time I arrived at the hospital… after a 30 minute drive, I was already 8cm dilated. As I was getting settled in the room, my husband thought he’d scope out the place and settle for the long day. Lol little did he know!! An hour and a half after arriving at the hospital and pushing for 20 minutes, Mackenzie arrived into the world as a healthy 8lb baby girl. I do remember thinking as I lay in be ..read more

Name: Tiffany Fewster-Salt Age: 36 Mother of 2 beautiful girls, Scotlynn (4) and McKinley (2) and a 3rd baby on the way, gender yet to be known! Profession: One of the proud Owners of The WOMB Woodstock and I am also a Professional Realtor with The Realty Firm B&B Real Estate Team serving all of Oxford County for almost 15 years. Birth Experience 2 wonderful, unmedicated Home Births so far, hopeful my 3rd Birth will follow in that same fashion. Parenting Joys - Past, Present, Future I feel that my biggest joys in parenting carry through the past present and the future. I have found and con ..read more

A Naturopathic Doctor's Thoughts On the Importance of Counselling. Dr. Pamela Thornton, B.Sc., ND To be human is a guarantee that you run a constant narrative through your mind all day every day and only during the day if you are lucky enough to not run this narrative throughout the night when you are supposed to be sleeping. The one thing that distinguishes human beings from all other species is our enormous and highly developed prefrontal cortex that gives rise to our complex ability to plan, organize, express our personality, make decisions and moderate our social behavior.  It is the ..read more

 As you embark upon your journey to motherhood, you will face many decisions and challenges you hadn’t thought of before. The choice to take nutrients during your pregnancy should not be a complicated one. I have listed some helpful tips below. Multivitamins are not designed to fill the gaps in a poor diet. It is always my preference that people choose to eat a balanced diet of whole foods as the primary source of their nutrients. My advice is to “eat a rainbow” which really means that when we choose colourful foods like dark greens, bright red fruits and vegetables, rich blue berries an ..read more

Name: Dr. Pam Age: 50 Mother of 3 Elliot (17), Sophie (15) and Emma (12) Profession: ND Path to Pregnancy There were few things I was as certain about in life as my desire to me a mother.  I was the last of my siblings to even think about trying for pregnancy and I had witnessed both my sister and sister-in-law struggle desperately to achieve this goal.  For my sister, the journey was 5 years long and involved every intervention you can imagine before giving birth to three miraculous yet premature triplet girls in 1996.  I hadn’t realized how deeply I had embedded my sister’s gr ..read more

Name: Emily Tashjian Age: 26 Mother of One Greyson (18 months) Profession: Doula and Yoga Instructor Birth Experience As a trained Doula I felt very empowered during my pregnancy that I had all of the knowledge necessary to have a natural home birth. At my 39 week check in I had a single high blood pressure reading which resulted in an induction, artificial membrane rupture, pitocin, 14 long hours of natural labour, and ultimately an emergency belly birth. 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 ..read more

Name: Natalia Rey-Caughlin Age: 30 (probably 31 when you post this lol) Mother of One Hudson Mitchell Rey-Brown, 3 months old Profession: Naturopath Path to pregnancy? I started preparing for pregnancy about 2 years before trying. I started a prenatal and other nutrients to get my mind and body ready to carry a baby, and set myself up for good mental health and energy postpartum. We were extremely fortunate, having conceived within a few months of trying. Birth Experience My labour lasted a total of 57 hours. We were hoping for a home birth, however after 48 hours of contractions, the midwif ..read more

It was early in my practice that I met a young eager farmer who would go on to become one of my best patients. His common sense approach to health was something of inspiration. I asked him one day if he was taking any vitamins or minerals to which he replied “now why would I spend all of that time and energy tending to my fields and carefully spreading fertilizer but not provide myself with any fertilizer? Of course I take vitamins. I give my sheep weekly selenium injections to help them prevent cancer since our soil is so depleted here. I give myself a shot too the first Monday of the month ..read more

    If you are a first time mom or expecting your first baby, you’ve likely read about the wonders of breastfeeding and how your newborn will come out of the womb and magically know where to go and what to do. You may expect that your newborn will instinctually know how to latch on their own and direct their head towards your nipple. While in some cases, this may be so, for many new mothers, having this expectation can hinder their first experience with breastfeeding and be very discouraging. In this article, I will discuss the many benefits of breastfeeding for both baby and mom. I ..read more