Papiyon Doula

04/30/2025

It’s been 10 years since St. Michael’s became one of the first hospitals in Canada to launch an infant cuddling program. Seven days a week, from morning to night, trained volunteers cuddle, serenade, and hold hands with infants whose families can’t be with them in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Hallace has been a volunteer since the program’s beginning. “To think that I can comfort these tiny babies who face so many challenges, there’s no feeling like it.”

Read Hallace's Story: https://stmichaelsfoundation.com/our-stories/it-has-just-made-my-life-joyous



Edited in response to comments: At St. Michael’s Hospital masking is voluntary for patients, families, and staff, similar to many Toronto hospitals. Masks are welcome in all Unity Health Toronto spaces, and the choice to wear one is respected. In this instance, the parents were present and comfortable with this photo being taken. Our masking policy is based on guidance from Infection Prevention and Control and reflects current levels of respiratory illness in the community. For more information, please visit: https://unityhealth.to/patients-and-visitors/covid-19/

04/18/2025

04/12/2025

The National Doula Certification Board (NDCB) is attempting to establish itself as the national authority on doula certification—imposing costly, top-down standards that strip doulas of autonomy, erase cultural and ancestral knowledge, and prioritize profits over people. Read their certification requirements to see for yourself. https://www.doulaboard.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Certified-Professional-Doula.pdf (LINK IN COMMENTS AS WELL)

This isn’t equity. It’s extraction.

We are a national action network of doulas, midwives, legal advocates, academics, and policy leaders who believe:

Doulas deserve respect and autonomy—not regulation without representation
Cultural wisdom must be honored—not erased for compliance
Policy should protect—not profit off our care
If you believe in community-based, culturally-rooted doula care:

Sign: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQ-NotHM4Z04_yy0c-gjQoBiuiACfl6_X6S-T-F5cUM5XLwQ/viewform share our demand letter today.

Your voice is crucial in this movement. Together, we can ensure that doula care remains community-led and culturally grounded.

More info:
Read Our Letter to the NDCB https://bit.ly/42w4cgd



With deep appreciation and urgency,
The National Action Doula Network
nationaldoulaactionnetwork@gmail.com.

07/15/2022

The wonderful and are long term advisors of this technique. If you don't already follow them, go..now!
Basically, wind in the tummy is much more easily brought up if the baby is tilted to their left and slightly forward (which is usually the opposite of how we hold to wind!)

05/20/2022

Must Read!!!

04/01/2022

Some parents see "sleep training" as the key to a good night's rest. Others argue that it's distressing for babies. What do scientists say about its risks and benefits?

03/21/2022

Posted • It amazes me that the sleep training industry is SO GOOD at instilling fear in new parents that society tends to lose a little bit of common sense when thinking about baby sleep.
The thought that leaving a baby to cry at night is somehow teaching them the “skill” of “self soothing” (which no baby/toddler can developmentally do) makes no sense when you think about the fact that we respond to their daytime cries because we know that they need comfort.
What happens to their needs at night? Are they different in some way? No. Are tears at night less valid than daytime tears? No.

So when thinking about the idea that a baby who has been left to cry at night is now capable of self-soothing, let’s realize that it makes absolutely no sense because we all know that we still need to respond to their cries during the day.

Save this post to come back to! 💕

12/01/2021

Elizabeth. She struggled with fertility.

She waited well past the 12 weeks to share her news, until she was obviously showing.

Mary, upon learning that she was pregnant, came running to Elizabeth, the infertile woman, the white-knuckling mother.

And this story of a 3rd trimester mother and a 1st trimester mother sharing their truths and their experiences with each other, makes history.

Your struggle with fertility matters. Your 3rd trimester baby, your 2nd and your 1st trimester baby, matters. We impact one another; our stories, even of tragedy, are life-giving when we share them.

If you are grieving and your child died, if your baby died before birth, if the baby you've yearned for hasn't been conceived, your story matters.

The Christmas story is woven with women sharing about their babies and validating one another.

Incredible Artwork: Mary Ellen Diedrich
Words: stillbirthday

10/21/2021

This is why, during my breastfeeding classes, I put a small bead inside the formula bottles to show families what the average intake is rather than letting them think a bottle sets the standard. You have enough milk. If you have concerns reach out to an IBCLC
Thanks

10/20/2021

"I'm going to check you"⁠
"I'm just going to break your water" ⁠
"We're going to start an IV antibiotic" ⁠
"You really need to do this right now"⁠
“You’re not allowed to (walk around, eat, fill in the blank…)"⁠
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None of these are examples of informed consent. ⁠
Informed consent is a legal, human, and ethical right - established by law.⁠
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It’s a discussion that includes:⁠
1️⃣ risks (including future potential risks, i.e. repeat cesareans, post-episiotomy pain, impacting s*x life)⁠
2️⃣ benefits⁠
3️⃣ alternatives⁠
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Informed consent also includes the right to INFORMED REFUSAL.⁠
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That means you have a legal right to say NO at your birth to anything you believe is not in your and baby's best interest.⁠
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Your voice counts and what you say matters.⁠
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Being guilted into something or otherwise psychologically pressured is a violation of informed consent.⁠
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But violations are common and accepted. It’s common for a practitioner to say something like: ‘a good mom would do this’ and ‘you wouldn’t want to harm your baby’ or “I know this is what you want, but my job is to look out for your baby.” Legally YOU are the one who gets to choose for you and baby and LEGALLY that should be without repercussions to you regardless of outcome. YOU get to make the risk-benefit analysis, but that means getting educated ahead of time. And that’s what I’m here to help you do.⁠
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If you want to learn what your birth rights are, the difference between birth rights and hospital policy, and more on how to be your own advocate, I invite you to join my FREE pregnancy, birth, and postpartum course via the link in bio.⁠
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Once you join, you'll have access to the previously recorded videos (including the one on advocacy), in addition to supplemental PDFs and guided videos - and all of the ongoing classes coming up, plus the ongoing weekly support group.⁠
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Speaking up for ourselves, and speaking our truth makes a difference. It’s how every change in healthcare has actually occurred. And never doubt what s group of committed women can do!

10/15/2021

Sharing the wisdom of fathers and mothers who co-sleep – in their own words