In the world of perinatal care, we too often speak of the dyad of parents such as the pregnant woman and her spouse. This portrait of a heterosexual, cisgender couple indeed represents a large part of parents in the context of perinatal birth, but not all of them.
When I started my career accompanying person at birth, I made a call around me to collect photos of childbirth, pregnancy or breastfeeding. My aunt sent me pictures of her childbirth 25 years ago. Being a photographer, her husband took pictures and to my surprise, my mother was there. She had never told me about this birth. She went to accompany her sister who was giving birth in her turn.
After handing over my second application for admission to the bac in midwifery practice, at UQTR, I came back from Africa. I honestly thought that now the doors to college were going to be wide open for me. I had caught 35 babies, I had learned a lot about the midwifery profession, about natural childbirth, about the relationship with a patient ...
Two weeks later, I still have no news. I call back and a man says to me: You haven't heard from you? Don't you know you've been turned down?
By rereading my diary, which tells in detail each of the deliveries that I attended during my internship in Madagascar, I can not help but be surprised by the medical gaze that I wore on the thing. At the time, I was still very keen to be admitted to the midwifery practice baccalaureate, here in Trois-Rivières.
Here is what I wrote on the 6th childbirth. To pregnant moms reading this text: don't worry about this story.
Before find me a place to the " Kabary clinic (I baptized it that way, that was the name of the street), I tried to find a place for myself in the hospital and in the maternity ward, to observe how they were doing. The key word here is " observer ».
What I got instead was so much richer and more alive as learning, that I think the closed doors of the university here make perfect sense. The 3 refusals that I experienced during the 6 years I tried to become a midwife in Quebec were confronting, frustrating, anxious ... But the 2 months that I spent in Madagascar catching babies were 2 months or I was totally in my place.
En janvier 2014, I went to Madagascar, Africa, for 3 months. I caught 35 babies there. I did not deliver 35 babies, their mothers gave birth to them. I caught them.
The experience was striking and a burst of passion officially declared itself in me. I lived the most impressive 2 months of my life, alongside a fantastic woman, Edwige.
The profession of sex therapist is often perceived as mysterious!
What are we talking about when we consult a sex therapist? Who consults them and what are the reasons that may lead people to take this step? How do you manage to talk openly about your sexuality with a stranger? And above all, what are the results following follow-up related to his sexuality?
You will find answers to all these questions and more by browsing this article!
You have to go as far back as the days of Ancient Greece to find the meaning of the word Doula. It means “the one who serves the mother”.
In the Middle Ages, women gathered around the woman who gave birth to surround and support her. The midwife was part of this feminine circle.
Nowadays, midwives and doulas play different roles with pregnant women but have a common goal: to make childbirth as positive as possible, while respecting physiology.
How about knowing a little more about what goes on in the often busy life of a doula? I am Ysaline, one of the doulas of the first moments team for almost two years. You are ready? Come on, let's dive together!