Doula Essentials

02/02/2026

✨ Advocacy Update: Good News for Midwifery Care ✨

We’re thrilled to share encouraging news for Edmonton-area midwives and families.

Following ongoing advocacy by the Alberta Association of Midwives (AAM), in-hospital midwifery services at the Royal Alexandra Hospital will continue in the near term while longer-term planning is underway.

Midwives will be on shift at RAH Monday–Sunday, 7 AM – 7 PM. A huge thank you to all midwives who stepped forward to help cover shifts; please reach out to Meghan at PMAO to get started.

And to everyone who supported our campaign: your dedication shows that advocacy works and makes a real difference in sustaining safe, high-quality midwifery care across Alberta!

01/23/2026

🌿 Doulas are the specialists in continuous, hands‑on, emotional, physical, and informational support during labor.

Not medical care.
Not clinical decision‑making.
But labor support? That is their entire domain.

Midwives are experts in physiologic birth and clinical care.
Doulas are experts in supporting the birthing person through the process itself.

Their skill set is unique:
Comfort measures
Positioning
Coping techniques
Advocacy support
Partner coaching
Trauma‑informed care
Continuous presence (something no other provider offers)

And the research is rock‑solid:
Continuous labor support from a doula leads to:
Lower C‑section rates
Less need for pain medication
Shorter labors
Higher satisfaction
Better outcomes for parents and babies. No other role in the birth room is trained specifically and exclusively for this.

01/10/2026

On January 9th, we honor the birthday of one of DONA International’s founders, Dr. John Kennell (1922-2013).🙏🏽

Long before the word “doula” existed, women supported one another through pregnancy, birth, bonding, and breastfeeding. Dr. Kennell helped bring recognition and research to that support, giving language and evidence to what families had always known: presence matters.

A pediatrician and researcher, Dr. Kennell is widely remembered for the quote:

�“If a doula were a drug, it would be unethical not to use it.”

His work showed that continuous labor support leads to calmer births and better outcomes for mothers and babies. As the doula field continues to grow and adapt, remembering how this work began helps shape how doulas show up today.💪🏽

We remember Dr. Kennell for helping ensure that no one labors alone, and for shaping the foundation of modern doula care.💜

01/10/2026

📚🐾 New Club Alert!

We are so excited to announce that our Reading Buddies, for ages 8-11, will begin next Friday, January 16th! This club blends literacy with compassion 💕. Children gain fluency and self-assurance in a completely judgment-free space, learn how calm voices and respectful behaviour support animal wellbeing, and explore CHS’s mission through hands-on, animal-themed activities 🐶!

Reading Buddies takes place on Friday evenings from 5:00–7:00 pm, giving kids a cozy, end-of-week activity they can look forward to 🤩! Register today:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/reading-buddies-winter-club-ages-8-11-tickets-1975000604975?aff=oddtdtcreator

12/31/2025

I love you, Mom. Always grateful.❤️

12/22/2025

Run, don’t walk 🏃‍♀️

12/15/2025

Happy first night of Hanukkah to all of our friends who celebrate!

12/07/2025

Today, we remember the fourteen young women whose lives were stolen at Polytechnique Montréal 36 years ago.

Their names are a solemn reminder of the devastating toll of gender-based violence — and the responsibility that comes with our remembrance.

My statement: https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2025/12/06/statement-prime-minister-carney-national-day-remembrance-and-action

11/24/2025

Important Reminder

RSV season is here. Little lungs are fragile—please, no kisses unless they’re your own child. Boundaries save lives.

11/02/2025

When Dr. Katie Hinde began studying breast milk, most scientists treated it as simple nutrition.
Calories, proteins, fat nothing more.
She looked closer and saw a language.
Katie discovered that milk changes depending on the baby’s needs.
A mother nursing a son produces milk richer in energy.
A mother nursing a daughter creates milk with more immune cells.
If a baby falls ill, the milk’s composition shifts within hours, an invisible conversation between
body and child.
Her research revealed something profound:
Breast milk is not a passive food. It’s a biological message system.
Dr. Hinde’s work redefined maternal science and exposed how modern medicine overlooked
women’s biology for centuries.
While labs raced to map the human genome, almost no one had studied the most ancient form
of nourishment — a mother’s milk.
Today, her discoveries are reshaping how hospitals, pediatricians, and policymakers understand
infant health.
As she often says, “Every drop tells a story between generations.”
Dr. Katie Hinde didn’t just study milk.
She decoded the conversation that built humanity itself.

10/13/2025

May your days be filled with reasons to be grateful.

09/30/2025

Every single Indigenous Person on Turtle Island has been impacted by the legacy and trauma of the Indian Residential School System.

Walk gently and humbly today as you learn what we had to endure.

🧡