New 2009 Prenatal Classes Brochure

Local resources

Pregnancy and childbirth is a time of transformation for women. For many women, it is a time to look inward as they prepare for their new life as a mother as they explore all that may mean for them.  It is also a time to look to their family and community for support, especially if the pregnancy is unplanned or challenging. We now know that babies are aware and conscious beings right from their time in utero; they experience what their mother experiences whether it is excitement, joy or even anxiety.  With this new knowledge and understanding about the consciousness of infants, acknowledging the mother’s need for support and acceptance by her community is essential to both her well being as well as for her baby. 
 
It is a divine right of passage for women to birth their babies and in turn to be born themselves as mothers.  For it is not only the baby that is being born, rather the birth of a family.  There was a time when women didn’t have access to prenatal classes, there were no books written on the subject of pregnancy and birth nor were there television programs on the topic.  Women relied completely on their inner wisdom to carry and birth their babies.  This wisdom told them what they needed to eat, when to rest, how to move and what sounds they needed to make to give birth.  This same wisdom is still encoded in each woman today. Our bodies are made to nurture and birth our babies and our babies know exactly how to be born. 

Although the childbearing year is a natural process, one that our bodies have been capable of since the beginning of our existence, we are often exposed to images, stories or experiences that lead us to believe otherwise.  We are often given the message that birth is scary, out of control and often resulting in an emergency.  In Canada, 90% of births are normal and without complication.  However, for some women, birth may unfold in a way that requires medical support. Whether born vaginally, with the support of an epidural or a birth by cesarean, birth is still happening both for mother and baby and the woman’s rite of passage remains the same. In this part of the world, we are so blessed to have access to the resources we need to birth our babies safely, however that unfolds for each woman.

Support for mother and baby during the childbearing year is essential.  This includes good prenatal care, nutrition as well as emotional support.  Here in the Cowichan Valley we are so fortunate to have amazing Registered Midwives, Certified Birth Doulas, doctors, nurses, mothering circles and many more resources available to all women and their families.  Pregnancy and childbirth is a time for more than duckie diapers and baby showers.  It is a beautiful time to honor the mother’s rite of passage and to celebrate and embrace the birth of a family as a whole.

Catherine Quaglia is a mother of two, Certified Birth Doula (DONA), Vancouver Island’s First Certified Birthing From Within Mentor and a Breastfeeding Counsellor.  Through her doula care and classes, she is honored to support women and their families in discovering their own wisdom as they birth and parent their babies.

Links

Birth Psychology