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Adrienne Wetherell - yoga & doula services

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Toronto, ON
Adrienne Wetherell - yoga & doula services

Supporting your journey through pregnancy, birth, and parenthood.

01/17/2026

My daughter is firmly in her pre-teen era.

I’m not allowed to use the word “play” when talking to her anymore.

I just told her to go hang out in the snow.

01/16/2026

❤️🙏

01/14/2026

In case you needed a Wednesday pick-me-up 🎶

01/10/2026

We’re heartbroken about the passing of my daughter’s favourite fur-friend.

Champ was a rescue and the best girl.

She lived a good long life of 14yrs with a loving family who generously shared her with us, and she became a source of emotional support for my daughter and an honorary family member.

She came over for many sleepovers, and walked my daughter to school on her very first day 💔

01/09/2026

This week, I noticed on my LinkedIn profile that I had passed my 21 year yoga-versary!

It was fun reminiscing about some of the places I’ve taught over the years:

- The Toronto Star
- Sunnybrook Hospital (staff support)
- Wellspring cancer support centre (Sunnybrook & Women’s College Hospital)
- Casey House (staff support)
- Commerce Court (financial district)
- Moksha Yoga
- Yogamamas (Kaer)
- The Yoga Sanctuary
- Yoga Tree

I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work with so many different groups. Movement has always been an important part of my life.

I spent my early years in dance (ballet), from age 6 to 17yrs.

(My daughter recently found a fossilized pair of point shoes from deep inside a closet and tried them on. What a blast from the past!)

One of my very first yoga teachers used to consistently call me out in front of the entire class to correct me because of my dancer’s turnout. Doing yoga felt like such a counterintuitive way of moving my body, but something kept me going back.

It eventually gave me something that dance didn’t: A grounded awareness of my entire body and the ability to fully inhabit myself in a way that was adaptive, responsive and attuned.

And this would become an important foundation for understanding movement for birth.

Nowadays, my focus is on teaching yoga for birth preparation , working one-on-one with clients to help them move in a way that is attuned and responsive to their bodies and their changing needs.

Movement during this stage of life can be very humbling and require gentle adaptation and letting go.

All great practise for the transition from
birth to parenthood.

01/05/2026

・・・
We are devastated to hear of the passing of Dr. Janell Green Smith, Doctor of Nursing Practice, Certified Nurse-Midwife, mother, and leader, who died in childbirth, following complications after the birth of her first child. She dedicated her life to protecting Black mothers. And yet, she was not protected by the very system she served.

We need to say this plainly: racism in maternity care kills Black women. Not lack of knowledge or professionalism, or advocacy.

Racism, not race, is the risk factor. Systemic bias leads to symptoms being dismissed, care being delayed, and warnings being ignored.

These are not individual failures; they are structural ones. And they continue to cost lives.

Her death is a painful reminder that in the United States, a Black woman’s education, expertise, and professional status do not shield them from the maternal health crisis. Black women with college degrees still face higher risks than less-educated white women. No titles, credentials, or proximity to care can protect Black women within a system shaped by racism.

This is not just an issue in the United States. Here in Canada, where comprehensive race-based data on birth outcomes is not even collected (a problem in itself) Black, Indigenous, and racialized birthing people also face higher risks of complications such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, preterm birth, and maternal mortality.

This is a profound systemic failure. And we honour her not by staying silent, but by continuing the work she dedicated her life to.

Advocates are calling for improved data tracking, extended postpartum care, expanded Medicaid coverage, and real accountability when patient concerns are ignored.

We hold her family, loved ones, colleagues, and the nursing and midwifery community in our hearts. A GoFundMe has been established to support her family.

Photocredit: https://nurse.org/

12/31/2025

As we close out another year, I thought of this dream (again) from 2019.

Who knew we’d end up where we are now.

Birth is like life, riding surges/waves, contractions. The microcosm of the macrocosm.

・・・

・・・
LETTING GO

Last night I had a powerful dream. As I was sliding into sleep, I started reflecting on how it felt like insurmountable obstacles had come up in my life, seemingly one right after the other in an endless and frightening series.

I then fell asleep, and saw a gigantic wave looming before me. It surged and towered high above, threatening to crash and totally consume me.

But instead, the wave swelled and picked me up, raising me high on top of its crest.

And as I went up and over the wave, I heard the words:

“LET THEM COME.”

📸

11/21/2025

How many layers of mom guilt can you identify in this story? 😂

11/04/2025

For the Doulas & Other Birth Nerds:

I often say that people really have no idea what we do as doulas. There are so many ways we support our clients that seem behind the scenes.

Sometimes it takes more ”gymnastics” to help a baby be born 🤸

When a client of mine is in labour, I’m always asking:

Where do you feel the contractions in your body?

I’m sure it’s annoying the number of times I ask this, but it helps give me an idea of how the baby might be positioned.

Doulas don’t do pelvic exams to check for cervical dilation or baby position (because we aren’t medical providers) but there are other signs!

Here’s a recent birth as an example (although similar scenarios have occurred many times):

During my client’s very early labour, I suspected her baby was not optimally positioned. Due to her contraction pattern and what she was feeling in her body.

I worked with her virtually through the night giving her exercises to help her baby to reposition.

Her back pain eventually subsided (yay!), but her contractions didn’t stop or progress (I would have expected either scenario).

But her new body sensations + contraction pattern told me her baby was stuck at the top of her pelvis and not descending.

By the morning, I told her we were entering into uncomfortable birthing position territory.

I suggested she do abdominal lift & tuck for 5 contractions while I made my way over.

When I arrived, her contractions had spaced to 9-10mins and were very short (approx 20+ seconds)

We used a rolled up yoga mat and I helped her into Walcher’s on her bed. She said it felt comfortable and I told her that meant we were doing it wrong so we adjusted!

Within a few minutes, her contractions started coming every 2-3 minutes and doubled in length!

And not long after that, she transitioned into active labour

(Side note: 2-3 min apart contractions does not necessarily mean active labour!)

The reason I started off saying this is “behind the scenes” is because by the time the healthcare provider does a pelvic exam, the baby has sometimes already (continued in the comments) 👇

Walchers:
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Photo: ⁣
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10/22/2025

13yrs ago today, my very first client became a mama and I became a doula!

I love marking this special day, every year.

I am so grateful to all the families I’ve had the honour of supporting, and the wonderful connections I’ve made along the way.

I wish I could remember all of the baby birthdays!

For myself and my seasoned colleagues, it is no small thing to be doing this work for an extended period of time.

Longevity in doula work is hard won.

The average career span for a doula is 3-5 years, largely due to burnout.

I’ve spent lots of time over the years reflecting on what it means to do this work sustainably.

Here’s what I’ve realized:

It involves changing the culture of our industry and the unspoken expectations surrounding doula work.

We give so much because we love what we do and because we are givers and nurturers.

But with the demands of on-call life, it’s very easy to develop what I call a “house on fire” nervous system.

I’ve felt this truth in my body. IYKYK!

I remind myself that working within my capacity is how I will make the most meaningful and lasting contribution.

This informs my business best practices and boundaries.

I haven’t solved it, I’m always reviewing and refining how I do things.

At the end of the day, what’s good for us is also good for our clients.

Because who doesn’t want a calm, experienced and centred doula at their birth?✨

10/08/2025

Reposting on my grid again. I love how powerful this image is ❤️
・・・
“We think in pictures and we should be painting accurate pictures. The cervix nor the vagina bloom. The cervix is not a zip lock bag. The purpose of labor is NOT the creation of an opening or a hole... The purpose of labor contractions and retractions is to BUILD the fundus, which will, when it is ready, EJECT the baby, like a piston. Without a nice thick fundus there is no power to get baby out....the cervix does not dilate out....it dilates UP as a result of the effort to pull muscles up into the uterus to push muscles up to the fundus. The cervical dilation is secondary to that. The cervix is pulled up as a result of the building of the fundus. Assigning a number to cervical dilation is of little consequence and we make a huge mistake by interpreting progress or predicting time of birth to that number.

Any experienced midwife or OB can tell you that the cervix can be manipulated and that a woman whose cervix is at 7 could have the baby in a few minutes or a few hours.

If more providers and educators knew the truth about birth physiology, we could make a huge difference for mothers. What is important is to keep her well supported for the purpose of the appropriate chemistry, to keep her well hydrated and nourished for muscle strength, and to believe in her. We should be supporting her so that her physiology and that of her baby are unhindered, so they can finish what they started.

We should not be measuring, poking, or interpreting her labor. THIS CHANGE in teaching about labor could make such a difference for women who are imagining what is happening in their bodies during labor.

How much more strength might they have if they have an accurate picture?” -Carla Hartley

http://www.indybirthservices.com/blog/nova-birth-services

Address

Toronto, ON

Opening Hours

Monday	9:30am - 4pm
Tuesday	9:30am - 4pm
Wednesday	9:30am - 4pm
Thursday	9:30am - 4pm
Friday	9:30am - 4pm

Telephone

+14169380979

Website

https://www.adriennewetherell.com/

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