Opal Moon Birthwork

'Historic event': Sask. First Nation sees first on-reserve birth in 50 years Next to a warm fireplace, Ashley Rabbitskin delivered her son Kaleo at 7:01 a.m. on Feb. 23 in the healing lodge on Sturgeon Lake First Nation.

✨The uterus is considered a free floating organ, supported by 14 ligaments, nestled between the bladder & bowels. ✨It has the capacity to shift & move, to grow & shrink not only during pregnancy but also during each & every menstrual cycle. ✨ A non-menstruating uterus weighs about 4oz, but by the end of pregnancy these same ligaments must support an organ that now averages aprox 11lbs ✨The amount of strain incurred on the uterus can be likened to first degree musculoskeletal strain - with a recovery time taking much more than 6 weeks ✨ Healing the uterine ligaments is a primary reason why profound REST is so important during the fourth trimester 🛌 May we all live with strength & vitality & without prolapse ✊🏻

Home - Lucina Midwives & Birth Centre Lucina Midwives acknowledges that we are guests on the land that has been inhabited by First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Indigenous Peoples since time began. This land has been cared for by Indigenous Peoples with respect and gratitude. Lucina Midwives wishes to acknowledge that occupation of this lan...

We are excited to finally welcome Alykhan Sumar to our team and as Western Canada's first cisgender male doula, to our community.

Alykhan took his labour doula training through CAPPA in 2021 and will be focusing and specializing in supporting men and non birthing partners through the preparation of labour, birth and parenthood.Alykhan has a lot of great ideas in the works for supporting partners and our community, we can't wait to see them come into fruition.

Take a minute to learn more about him by visiting his bio page: https://www.fullcirclebirthcollective.com/alykhan-sumar.html
Pronouns: He/Him
Photo: Appletree Photography

Solstice birth sentiments ✨As always, perfectly said , thank you for sharing your words.

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Today is the darkest day of the year.

Today as always I’ve been thinking about the narratives we hold around birth.

There’s the dominant paradigm that birth is inherently dangerous, an emergency until proven otherwise, something to be feared and managed.

Then there’s the counter-narrative that says, well, actually, birth works and when it doesn’t, it’s because it has been intervened with in some way. If you make the right choices (avoid the MIC, hire a doula, educate yourself) your birth will be glorious, transformative, joyful, or****ic.

There's more truth in that narrative. Most of the time.

But I can’t help but notice how both, in their own way, perpetuate the same idea: that that are any guarantees in life. That we can control birth, whether by overmanaging it medically or divesting from that overmanagement.

As a society we seem so far from the truth that birthing people for all of history knew in their bones: that birth is a crack in the veil between life and death. That it is of this place and also whatever is not this place. That even in joyous births, people engage with the shadows. That sometimes, rarely, we don't emerge from them.

We’ve lost touch with this, but that doesn't make it any less true.

Birth is sacred. The holy can be beautiful and ecstatic. It can also be ugly and raw and full of rage or grief.

Birth is a series of mysteries and miracles and lessons at which we can only guess. It is an absolute distillation of what it means to be human. It is pure life force. It cannot be tamed, not by medicine and not by manifestation. It is what it is: a covenant with the universe we don’t always get a say in.

We don’t need to be subsumed by fear, but we don’t get to claim something is light simply by ignoring the dark.The dark is there whether we like it or not. We light candles, we sit by the fire, we hold each other close. We look out into the long night and offer the world our tender hearts. We are guaranteed nothing. We love anyway.

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At all stages of growth , through out our lives , we all thrive when we are safe , soothed , supported and connected. 💜
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"Contact, comfort, connection and security are vitally important to your baby. Not in 'limited' amounts, but unlimited. Be wary of advice that should try and limit these important and most basic of human needs. 🤱👣
Babies thrive on being safe, soothed, supported and connected. "

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*** RESOURCES ON GENTLE PARENTING AND MANAGING SLEEP SITUATIONS WITHOUT CAN BE EASILY ACCESSED VIA THE HIGHLIGHTS ON THE PAGE 💕 ***

These are the best birth photos of 2021—and they're breathtaking These birth photos are from the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers 2021 Birth Photography Image Competition.

Partners, do you not know how to help? Here's a way to support breastfeeding that only takes a few minutes but has huge payoffs.
My breastfeeding class students often say they didn't expect the class to address their partners, as they just expected us to talk about the baby and breast only. But the biggest part of breastfeeding (once you get the initial connection addressed) is the lifestyle of caring for your baby. And how to keep up with everything you need while also making milk, serving it up multiple times a day, and still getting yourself fed.
So this is my 3 bowl rule:
Partners, get 3 snack bowls and fill them with food you could live on in the wilderness. Nuts, seeds, dried fruit, or veggie sticks and dip, whatever you have available. 3 different things, but only something that is nourishing. (and preferably something your pets won't nibble on or take).
Then make sure those 3 bowls are filled any time you walk away from the breastfeeder. When you run out for an errand. When you take the dog for a run. Even when you shower or p**p (we know you stay in there awhile sometimes).
Because breastfeeding moms forget to eat, and they need to eat 500 extra calories a day to maintain milk supply. And when they remember to eat, they are usually sitting down to nurse their baby, stuck somewhere they can't get food and feel like they are starving.
So if you fill the bowls, they will instantly have nutrition that they didn't have to think about themselves.
This is sharing the load. Supporting the breastfeeder. Caring for baby by caring for the caregiver.
Partners, we appreciate your help through the hard work of breastfeeding.
Happy World Breastfeeding week!

Trans & Q***r Pregnancy & Fertility Options All the ways to get pregnant when s***m isn't readily available

ANNOUNCEMENT TIME
I am aiming to attend UBC Okanagan in Fall 2022 to attend the Elementary Education program (following my Miss Frizzle dreams). This means there will be some changes coming to Opal Moon in the next year. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with any questions you may have at [email protected]

Different Kinds Of Love by Jem Milton Another Jem Milton comic? Oh heck YES! This week Jem's got another treat for us about their evolving and continuing adventure in polyamoury and love. Worth a read is their previous few comics for us; Pleasure Drive and Love Radiates, which I'd 100% consider as a prequel to today's incredible comi

Click Here to Sign Up for Free Workshop Join bebo mia's FREE online workshop. Share & listen to stories about birth & birth work so that you can discover how folx are making a difference in the world. If you have a passion for all things birth & babies, this workshop is the perfect place for you.

Please pass on with your community 🧡
THANKYOU to for creating this safe & very needed space.
・・・
We have been dreaming about creating safe and supportive community for Edmonton-area 2SLGBTQIA+ families for so long. We are SO EXCITED to share that we are starting online hangouts every 4th Thursday from 7-9 pm to begin to build this dream together! ✨

We would like to extend this invitation to anyone who identifies as a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in the Edmonton-area (or anywhere in Alberta you don't have this option)! This community is open to all pregnant and parenting folks in the area who could use some q***r connection. Invite your friends! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤

The group will currently be held on a confidential encrypted zoom account, but hopefully someday we'll meet in person again 🥰 Please email us at [email protected] to register or ask any questions. We can't wait to see you!

(Stay tuned for q***r-focused fertility workshops and conception support groups, also coming soon! 💖)

***rparenting ***rparents ***rfamily ***rfamilies ***rfam ***r ***rfertility ***rconception

Check this out, lovelies!

Trans / Postpartum Join trans doula Moss Froom and trans therapist and parent Hez Wollin LCSW for an interactive workshop on the big transitions of postpartum.

This is a photo taken by a good friend who was the midwife at this birth. She asked if she could take my picture as we had been there for 3 days and were exhausted. Birthwork is a lot of "hurry up and wait". Being on call often puts me in the space of needing to drop everything at a moment's notice and go to the birth. This was one of those, but labour had other plans! I adore home births as there is so much character and love in each home. This space was no different.

Q***r & Trans Reproductive Support (CE) Q***r & Trans Reproductive Support (CE) This 4-week course is for anyone who is interested in learning more in-depth information about the reproductive health of Q***r & Trans people through the childbearing years. Enroll now Enroll with payment plan

Labeled 'Mother' When Not A Mother At All: On Being A Non-Binary Gestational Parent In his debut The Natural Mother of the Child, Krys Malcolm Belc credits the pregnancy and birth of his son with helping him decide to transition.