It's been a while since I shared a reprint of ReBirth and I admit part of that has been that it's something I couldn't look at for a while after losing my mother. I have read each and every volume with her in mind and we've had discussions about some of the pieces she wrote or were written by others.
This issue of Re:Birth has articles on the Midwifery Task Force in Ontario in the early 1980s, squatting in labour, episiotomies, rules at the time about fathers being present for c-sections, VBAC support, and birth on TV.
“We’re not as skilled in vaginal deliveries as before, and patients won’t put up with damage.” - One doctor on why c-section rates were rising in 1985
I want to highlight the primary article in this current volume though as it is the summary of a case in Ontario that paved the way for the legalization and licensing of midwifery in Ontario.
The fourth installment of Re:Birth Newspaper!
The article that stood out was the summary of research on homebirth, one of the first articles of the paper, but I’ve already written on that and sadly the articles seem a little too similar to have been written 25 years apart. But a little aside – if you read this issue closely, I get a few mentions, including a brief synopsis of my birth!
In this second issue of Re:Birth, there are articles on the Ultrasound (which was quite new at the time), mothering the mother, VBACs (yes, they were talking about them 20 years ago) and C-sections, support during labour, and breastfeeding policies.
Starting today I will start sharing some pdfs of an old newspaper that was written and distributed in the 1980s in Ontario, Canada – Re: Birth. It was created by a group called Choices in Childbirth and the goal was to promote women’s options for their births...
