Nurtured Connection Birth Services (2025)

26/11/2024

Our newest & last nurtured baby 🥹
Hendrix Cole 🫶🏼

MY BESTIES HAD A BABY!
What an honor it has been to be their doula.
Never in my wildest dreams would I be able to support so many families let alone my best friends!!

Cassy’s birth was a glimpse of the kind of mama she was soon to become & wow baby boy is lucky. Let me start by saying the word P A T I E N C E.
I have never seen a labouring mama like this before. I have never seen a mama who’s over due like this… Cassy was so beautifully patient at the end of her pregnancy. & if you’ve been pregnant most of you know that the end is extremely hard in the sense of patience. In the moments I was prepared to carry her emotionally & I was ready & I was anticipating it… she proved me wrong. She showed extreme devotion, trust & a composure that you couldn’t help but be captivated by. A mental strength I’ve never seen & gawsh I am extremely proud of her.

Birth notes:
•full moon baby
•overdue & baby boy was comfy
•scorpio baby just like his mama
•mama’s intuition guiding her beautifully
•tik tok
•she ain’t going to the grocery store now, she’s ordering her groceries
•oilers win
•breathing through contractions like a goddess
•no rush
•Cassy utilized everything she had learned & prepared her mind with during her labor & birth.
•wiggled her toes with open soft hands during contractions
•the 3 stinky musketeers
•every step of the way what ever Cassy choose her OB supported her
•daddy dance party
•calm & peaceful environment
•winter wonderland
•rogers place staircase
•cafeteria lady, house keeping lady, every nurse, a&w cashier rooting for Cassy laboring for days. Baby boy was already a celebrity in the hospital & wasn’t even born yet.
•2am halo lessons 🎮
•so much love between mama & dad
•baby boy gymnast
•a gentle, joyful birth with each & every person on their team letting them know they’re supported
•empowering birth

Cass & Q, thank you for sharing this chapter of your lives with me. I’m not crying, you’re crying 🥲

& Auntie A is so excited for the future mems, especially getting tattoos & being his boot.

Love you guys !

19/09/2024

Our newest nurtured baby,
Zayden 🫶🏼

Rachel’s birth is the definition of heartbreaking resilience. She was pushed beyond her limits, pushed with no choice in the matter that baby boy was coming on his terms. Baby boy was coming while daddy was no longer here & the pain it brought upon was heavy, heavy during such a beautiful & sacred time.
C h i l d b i r t h.
What kept her going, also crippled her. L o v e .

Birth notes:
•FULLL FU***NG MOON
•10:30pm it’s happening
•contractions every couple minutes in the car, with a side of Justin Timberlake 🎶
•back labor with no relief, breathing through contractions beautifully
•just a couple bags & totes & pillows
•punched in the vag water swoosh 😄
•IV attempt x100
•epidural? No such thing 🫣🫠
•bath, shower head, fan & sinking into the wave she was riding
•in & out of resting, with an ever so slightly shift of her body & grip onto the side of the bath tub when a contraction would start
•so calm & peaceful
•half an epidural
•side lying pushing like an absolute queen
•LEO BABYYY
•white cord, still attached to babe & placenta
•mama cutting the cord & bringing Zayden up to her face for the first time 🥹

Shoutout to Katherine
I am so,so grateful for YOU & your expertise as a doula. Thank you for your support xo.

Rachel you are one special soul.
It’s one thing to bring a baby into this world but another to mother & bring another baby into the world while your whole world has fallen apart. I love you girl. ♥️
P.s you make the cutest babies 😭

27/08/2024

Our newest nurtured baby,
Scarlett 🫶🏼 welcome to the girl gang 👯‍♀️

OH MY GOODNESS, this one.
THIS ONE pulls on my heart strings.
How lucky am I to have been by two of my long time best friends while they bring their second baby earth side!

Birth notes:
•GIRRRLL vibes
•cocktail 🍹
•dilating in her sleep
•fiery moon
•coping like a champ from her spicy contractions, while hubby is questioning if she’s even having contractions anymore
•G rated, sarcastic jokes from dad, giving a whole lot of laughter & eye rolls & smiles 😂
•beautiful & strong breath work
•forward leaning inversion for back labor like an absolute badass
•flexed feet, soft hands & relaxed jaw
•the casual “f**k” at the peak of the contraction 😌
•”how do people in labor not swear?!”
•excited smiles
•babies all being born at the same time
•breathing her baby down with a calmness to the intensity of pressure
•pushed like a warrior
•12:59pm arrival , the perfect way to end the day, 1 minute before the new day🫶🏼
•a softness & a peace to her that was captivating. All the while she was fierce when needed.

Our friendship has seen it all now 😂🤭
Thank you for choosing me to be your doula.
It means more to me than you’ll ever know.
Love you guys so dang much!

Taylor Peterson

23/08/2024

Our newest nurtured baby,
Zander 🫶🏼

Let me start by saying J O Y.
When I think of Sarah & Cole’s birth story I think pure joy. Cue tears of joy 🥲.

Birth notes:
•forward leaning inversions like a champ
•hubby: steadfast & calm
•spicy back labor & mama battling fiercely
•Sarah worked HARD at home, trusted her body & its strength & allowed herself to dilate to 7cm!! Can I say WOW AMAZING!
•outside was storming, heavy rain, wind & lightening but inside was calm & peaceful
•jokes, laughter, smiles & a whole lot of love
•walking epidural
•nurse Queen being a Queen & making sure Sarah felt like the queen & respecting that Sarah was the one in charge
•candy for days, what mama wants mama gets
•3am cheesies slapped
•Sarah staying true to herself & her wants, needs & desires. Knowing just exactly what she needed & wanted. Truly believing in herself & surrendering. It was beautiful.
•being in awh of Mama’s strength & mindset
•Sarah’s undeniable power while pushing her baby earth side
•golden hour with the sun shining through the window, like there was never a storm in the first place
•JOY

What an absolute privilege to have been apart of their birth. It hits differently when you watch your friends become parents 😭 Thank you Sarah & Cole.
Love you 3!

•

Sarah Jane McEwan

22/05/2024

Our newest nurtured baby, baby Luca Adriel 🫶🏼

This family has a special place in my heart.
They were my very first clients. When they asked me to be their doula again I was so friggen excited!

When I think of Italia’s birth… it takes me into a daydream.
A warm, peaceful & quiet dream.
The smell of lavender.
The sound of prayer.
The feeling of unconditional love.
A dream in which Italia & Caleb created.

Italia breathed her baby earth side while her husband Caleb softly placed baby boy Luca on her chest. This daydream is a reality.

This birth was powerful. A power within Italia fueled with faith & love. Her redemptive home birth. Her strength was undeniable & I still can’t believe I got to be apart or it.

Congrats to the newest family of 4 🥹

I’m not crying, you’re crying!

•

11/05/2024

If you are a nurse, this is for you!

Somewhere there is a patient who holds you in their memories forever because you touched their heart with your care & kindness.

♥️Thank you for being you.

♥️Thank you for answering my questions.

♥️Thank you for holding my hand while I bring my baby earth side .

♥️Thank you for not being fazed by all my bodily fluids leaving my body. Amniotic fluid, p*e, p**p, blood, all the good stuff.

♥️Thank you for working endless hours.

♥️Thank you for your incredible intelligence in caring for premature babies.

♥️Thank you for your calm demeanour.

♥️Thank you for the magical iced apple juice.

♥️Thank you for helping me learn how to hold my baby & manage the wires that were all over his tiny body.

♥️Thank you for telling me to give myself some rest so I can properly care for my baby.

♥️Thank you for having faith in my family.

♥️Thank you for giving us privacy.

♥️Thank you for complimenting my freshly painted toes.

♥️Thank you for validating my emotions.

♥️Thank you for staying by my side every step of the way.

♥️Thank you for sacrificing time with your family, so you can help mine.

As a collective, as mothers, as fathers, aunts, uncles, & grandparents we thank you & appreciate all you do!

As a birth doula to the nurses, I hope your coffee is strong & your peppermint halo does the trick 😉 thank you for sharing your work space with me & sharing your knowledge with me! Working alongside you is a privilege & I’m grateful!

•

28/03/2024

I miscarried on my honeymoon.
We were laying in bed playing scrabble.
The cramping was there & it was painful.
Suddenly I was sitting in a pool of my blood on our crisp white sheets.
Next came apologizing to Ryan. Why? I’m not sure, apologizing like I had some sort of control in bleeding.
There I sat on the toilet bleeding, & bleeding & crying because I could no longer give the scratch ticket to Ryan.

What a strange feeling to experience such a loss in the midst of this special time.

Going to the little pharmacy in Tofino to pick up pain meds, masking the true symptoms I was experiencing. I didn’t want to taint our honeymoon with my emotions, my pain & my sadness.

Maybe it was meant to happen like this.
Maybe I was supposed to miscarry on our honeymoon. Maybe it was because I was surrounded by love, surrounded by Ryan’s love & just us.
Maybe it was a way to soften the experience, to soften the loss.

Maybe it was a way to bring us closer, to make our honeymoon even more intimate & to make our marriage stronger.

To this day I think about how embarrassed I am that there was all this blood on the sheets & someone had to see that. . .

•

20/03/2024

Bonus of the job.
I sometimes get to hold the sweetest nurtured babes 🥹 what an honor.

“On the night you were born the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars p*eked in to see you, & the
night wind whispered,
"Life will never be the same."
Because there had never been anyone like you ever in the world.”

•

📸 Evangeline Belzile

13/03/2024

Let’s chat about what we can do to prevent cesareans.

🤰🏼choose the right provider, one that has a low cesarean rate
🤰🏼support from a doula 👋🏼
🤰🏼avoid elective ultrasounds at the end of pregnancy (odds are they’re going to say your baby is BIG 😅)
🤰🏼know the evidence around “big babies” & “pelvic shapes”
🤰🏼choose a birth setting that supports your wants (have a home birth🤪)
🤰🏼stay physically active & mobile during active labor, utilize gravity baby
🤰🏼request intermittent fetal monitoring
🤰🏼stay hydrated during labor
🤰🏼wait until 4cm before being admitted
🤰🏼there’s no rush, don’t let them put a time limit on your labor, make sure you’re given enough time to labor & PUSH

A cesarean birth can be planned or not planned.
Preventable or not preventable.
Urgent or not urgent.
Life saving & over used.
There seems to be a LARGE grey area in cesarean births. Ofcourse some cesarean births are absolutely necessary. The benefits clearly outweigh the risks! But a lot of other reasons for cesareans make you think 🤔 As we know birth isn’t so black & white!

As your doula that is something I will chat with you about & help prepare you for the hard conversations to be had!

save this post 🫶🏼
•

📷 Wild Love Photos

06/03/2024

All that matters is a healthy baby.

This statement. Ooooph this statement grinds my gears.
There is no one, NO ONE on this earth that cares as much about their baby’s health than the mother. I can assure you that the health of her baby is the first priority in her mind. Nobody needs to tell her that.

A healthy baby IS NOT all that matters.

It’s strange to think that mothers are judged or made to feel shame or that they are selfish for also wanting a good birth experience… pretty sad if you ask me.

Sadly it seems this statement is so often used to justify certain circumstances, or a traumatic birth experience & the mother should just be thankful & move on.

Not only do we WANT a healthy baby but we NEED & WANT A HEALTHY mother. A healthy mother who can look after her babe, & more! Who can look back & feel & know they had a positive, respectful experience where she was listened too, supported & respected!

I can’t stress this enough, how important it is for women to have support & someone to listen to her about their birth experience & to validate her feelings. Sadly & understandably, many stop talking about their grief & their emotions, because they are made to feel silly, selfish & even pathetic & that they should be grateful they have a healthy baby.

We all know that birth doesn’t follow a plan.
We may not be able to control what happens at birth,
but every person that is in that birth space has the ability & the responsibility to treat the birthing mother with respect & compassion.

Demand it. Be it. Own it mamas!!

•

📸Evangeline Belzile

29/02/2024

You can talk to me.

You can talk to me when you don’t know what to do.
You can ask me the “I feel stupid asking” question.
You can talk to me when you need to have a pity party.
You can tell me you hate being pregnant.
You can talk to me about your non existent s*x life.
You can cry to me about how hard it is.
You can ask me if your va**na is going to “bounce back”.
You can talk to me about your postpartum depression.
You can cry to me about your stretch marks.
You can talk to me when feel alone.
You can ask me for mental health resource’s.

You can talk to me.
Any time. Any day. I’m here.

Your vulnerability only makes you stronger 🫶🏼

📷Evangeline Belzile

29/02/2024

EARTH•SIDE
• NURTURED • BABE

Welcome baby boy, Hughie William!
Making his grand entrance on February 11th with a full head of luscious hair ☺️

Mama & babe had quite the journey.
She was so brave & strong.
She followed her gut & led the way with a calmness knowing she was doing exactly what she needed to do. Through moments of vulnerability she continued to hold her mindset at a steady & confident state.
In the moment where things shifted she continued to move forward knowing she was doing everything in her power for her baby & that is just what she did. Bringing baby Hughie earth side with true courage, she did what ever it took ensure he was safe & healthy.

Daddy was a great support. He was calm & following mama’s lead. He was by her side & keeping things light with his sarcasm & laugh.

Hughie you are so very loved. & you have the cutest big sister!

This doula heart is proud 🥹

•

Nurtured Connection Birth Services

26/11/2024

19/09/2024

27/08/2024

23/08/2024

22/05/2024

11/05/2024

28/03/2024

20/03/2024

13/03/2024

06/03/2024

29/02/2024

29/02/2024

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Practice

Shortcuts

Share