Nurtured Postpartum

11/20/2025

I've been working hard behind the scenes the last few months. After finishing the Doula Services Association of British Columbia website, I decided that my own needed a little refresh. One thing led to another, and we have a completely brand new logo, website, and look! I'm so happy with how it's turned out, but I am only one person. So if you happen to see something that doesn't load, or work properly, or some wild typo...please let me know!.

Check it out here: www. nurturedpostpartum.ca

11/12/2025

When making your birth plan, it's important to consider WHO you will surround yourself with during birth. You want to surround yourself with people who make you feel safe, loved, and supported and not anyone who makes you second guess yourself. The people we surround ourselves with in birth is just as important as the comfort measures we use to cope with labour.

In fact, studies show that continuous birth support
- decreases cesarean risk
- increases likelihood of spontaneous vaginal birth
- decreases need for pain relief meds
- shortens labour
- results in a higher chance that you'll be satisfied with your birth experience, regardless of the outcome.

So, whether it's your friend, parent, sibling, or a doula, think carefully about who you ask to join you as you labour and birth. And if you think they might need some support too, consider adding a doula to your team (I'm a fan of the folks at ). Birth doulas are there to support both you AND the others on your support team.

Who did you have on your team?

📷 |

11/11/2025

We will remember them, always. This is ever more poignant today than it has been in my life with the world as it is.

May they know we hold them in our hearts today, and always. May they know that we honour their sacrifices as we work to dismantle the oppression that still exists. May we lift up the families left behind, and work so their sacrifices were not in vain.

I leave you today with a poem that my great great uncle, Jack Thompson wrote in 1945.
"Where The Rockies Touch The Stars

Now this war has ended
And I am homeward bound
I’ll be leaving some buddies behind me
Some boys who’ll never be found.

Away from the fierceness of fighting
Away from those battle scars
Back to my home in the mountains
Where the Rockies touch the stars.

Back to the peaceful valley
The one that I once knew
Back to the peaceful valley
Where ill winds never blew.

Where the Canada geese are calling
Along the Columbia River’s bars
Back to my home in the mountains
Where the Rockies touch the stars."

10/10/2025

Sometimes there is joy in the darkness.

This photo by shows a moment of true joy, but it does not show the dark at that time of my life that clouded over me. Most pictures of this time don't show that dark cloud. You might never know unless I told you. Even those around me didn't truly realize how much I was struggling.

You never know what a person is hiding. What sits behind that smile and "I'm ok."

I know I am not the only one who hides behind smiles and laughter. Who focused on being "super mom" so that nobody would know how much pain I was in. Who hid it all away so that nobody would know the dark, unwanted thoughts that ran through my mind on repeat.

People used to ask how I did it all, and I responded by saying "I don't know, I just do it." I should have responded by saying that it only looked that way and that I was dying inside. I tell them the truth now when I'm asked. I no longer brush it off. And yes, sometimes that means people are taken aback by my honesty but if you don't truly want to know, don't ask.

So, this is a reminder with World Mental Health Day tomorrow to check in on your friends and their hearts. To really check in and don't just accept their "I'm ok." Even with your strong friends. What looks strong on the outside may in truth be crumbling inside.

And if you're hiding it all away, please know that you are not alone. You are far from alone. You matter. You are loved. I love you.

10/04/2025

Today, I had the honour of attending the Butterfly Run Kelowna (virtually), hosted by 2 lovely humans, Melissa and Danielle. We gathered to honour babies gone too soon, and to walk in their memory. There is so much healing that can happen when we tell our stories. My heart both ached and warmed listening to other folks tell the stories of the babies they lost. Healing happens when we gather and share in safe spaces.

In the West Kootenays, we do not have a large number of resources for pregnancy and infant loss. So many of us (yes, us) suffer in silence, never realizing how many truly share the same grief. My hope is that we can create a hub of resources that families can access when they need, and that those caring for grieving families can also turn to. Community care means we hold families through the hard stuff.

To all the families grieving their little ones, I see you. Your baby was here. Even if you never got to hold them in your arms. Your baby matters.

10/02/2025

CW: PREGNANCY AND INFANT LOSS.

𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡.

And as those of you who have experienced loss know, grief doesn't wait for a specified date or month on the calendar to show up. It just shows up. Sometimes it hides away for days, weeks, months, or even so long that you think it is gone. But one thing is for sure, it will always show its face again.

Those who have not experienced pregnancy or infant loss will not understand the grief and pain that accompanies it. How it can come out of nowhere 10 years later and still bring you to your knees. How the joy in future pregnancies can be dulled as you anxiously second guess every twinge and cramp. How it feels so completely overwhelming when you sit with empty arms in the rocking chair you had bought to rock your sweet baby in. How your heart squeezes every single time you see a pregnant belly or pregnancy announcement. How so many others expect you to just "get over it" so soon after.

1 in 4 pregnancies will end in loss.

𝟭 𝗶𝗻 𝟰.

And take note, that that is 1 in 4 pregnancies. Not 1 in 4 people.

That is a huge number of people living with the grief that pregnancy loss brings. Many living with the grief of multiple losses. And yet, it seems it's still a taboo thing to talk about.

𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝟭 𝗶𝗻 𝟰.

Are you?

I see you. I see your pain. You are not alone.

In 2019, I worked hard through my own grief as I completed my Pregnancy and Infant Loss (PAIL) Advocate certification. It was hard to work through. I found my heart aching as I wished that I had had the support I was learning about. But I did it, and now I stand here today to offer that support.

Please reach out if you or someone you know needs some support going through pregnancy or infant loss. I can't lessen the grief, but I can sit beside you and help walk you through it. I offer this by donation - and there is no expectation for you to donate to access it.

09/28/2025

Just to make it crystal clear, again.

You cannot ban abortions. You can only ban safe abortions. And by not providing safe access to them, you are guaranteeing that pregnant people will die.

Today, September 28, is International Safe Abortion Day. Fellow Canadians, we must not get complacent. We see it happening in other places around the world, and it can happen here too. It's already happening.

Have you looked into where the nearest clinic you can go to for an abortion? What's the process? How many clinics are there near you that you can get one at? Just because abortion is legal here does not mean that everyone who needs one can access one. We cannot take our health care access for granted.

Everyone, of all genders, deserves safe and free access to abortions.

And this is not up for debate.

(seriously. If you feel the need to disagree and debate on human rights, please do us both a favour and unfollow me).

09/23/2025

09/10/2025

Sept 10 is World Su1c1de Prevention Day. The last few years, I have shared my story, and I wasn't sure I wanted to share again. Sometimes I worry that I share too much but parents are not immune. We need to talk about the things that scare us. And trust me, these things scare me.

I am a su1c1de survivor, both as a child and as an adult. I fought postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and fell to the depths.

This was me, in the deep dark depths of depression. Doesn’t look like it, right?

But I see the pain in her eyes.

The hopelessness.

The despair.

The desire to just never wake up again. To disappear. Believing that my family wouldn’t even notice I was gone. That they’d just go on living without me like nothing happened.

Wondering what it would be like to drive into oncoming traffic or into the river. What would be fastest and least messy?

Knowing that the only thing keeping me from doing that was that my kids were in the car.

Wishing that someone would notice and reach their hand out to me because I was afraid one day those feelings would come when I was without my kids.

And yet, the fear that others would find out that I was struggling so much was so overwhelming that I hid all those intrusive thoughts and pain behind a smile and overcompensation.

I am so grateful that I had friends see beyond that smile and help me out of that deep hole of despair so that I could get help and feel safe again.

This was me. Nearly a year postpartum. Deep in a pit of despair with a smile on my face. Hiding all the pain inside.

What you see on the outside may not be what is on the inside.

Check on your friends with kids. Moms, Dads, all parents. Check on them in the early days, and in the later days. Check on the friends with one child, and the friends with more than one. Ask them how they are doing. Ask them how their heart is doing. And then when they tell you, LISTEN. You might save a life.

Are you feeling lost in the dark but don't have anyone to talk to? Send me a message. I'd be honoured to hold that space for you as so many have done for me.

09/06/2025

09/05/2025

You know that feeling you get when your baby is finally here after months and months of waiting and being uncomfortable and you're so relieved? Yeah, that.

This summer I spent more hours than I can count over way too many way too late of nights working on this labour of love for the Doula Services Association of British Columbia. It's finally live and I'm feeling relieved to be finished this stage of "new website creation." I'm sure my family is also relieved (and lets be honest, my body since 3am nights sitting on the computer are just not the same as 3am nights with your newborns).

Check it out here: wearebcdoulas.ca

She’s here, she’s here, she’s here! Our digital baby has officially arrived.

After weeks of LATE LATE nights, way too much coffee, and lots of love, our new website is live and ready for you to explore. It’s smoother, more connected, and built by doulas, for doulas.

Just like any newborn, our little “digital baby” needs a bit of support to settle in and that’s where you come in:

1️⃣ Check your email. We’ve sent instructions to update your membership (no payment required for current members!).
2️⃣ Explore the site and poke around.
3️⃣ Give us feedback. We love hearing from our community.

You can explore our newest addition here: wearebcdoulas.ca

PS: don't worry, you can still find us with bcdoulas.org!