Blog & Updates on Vancouver Prenatal Classes

COLOSTRUM HARVESTING: Eight Things to Consider
breastfeeding, chestfeeding, lactation, colostrum, myths, medical interventions, prenatal Stephanie Ondrack breastfeeding, chestfeeding, lactation, colostrum, myths, medical interventions, prenatal Stephanie Ondrack

COLOSTRUM HARVESTING: Eight Things to Consider

But while helpful for some people, colostrum harvesting during pregnancy is not necessarily a good idea for everyone. 

Why shouldn’t everyone harvest their colostrum?

Read our latest blog for 8 things to consider when you are thinking about whether or not to try antenatal colostrum extraction.

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The So-Called Due Date
Birth, prenatal, informed choice, due date, myths, What's normal Stephanie Ondrack Birth, prenatal, informed choice, due date, myths, What's normal Stephanie Ondrack

The So-Called Due Date

If there is one date that your baby is unlikely to arrive, it is on your so-called due date. Approximately 96% of people do not give birth on that date. Odds are, neither will you.

So when do people typically give birth? Where does the putative “due date” come from, and why do we even call it that?

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The Waters
Pregnancy, Birth, Babies, Placenta, myths, prenatal health, amniotic sac, amniotic fluid Stephanie Ondrack Pregnancy, Birth, Babies, Placenta, myths, prenatal health, amniotic sac, amniotic fluid Stephanie Ondrack

The Waters

A common image in futuristic movies is someone floating in a tank of water in order to heal from injuries, illness, or cryogenic stasis. This idea of submersion in an enclosed aquatic tub that is restorative and salubrious is extremely evocative of the womb. Our babies float in exactly such a substance in our bodies, fully submerged, growing and gestating, until they are ready to emerge. This is amniotic fluid, “the waters” that surround and support our baby.

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Weighing In on Pregnancy Weight Gain
Pregnancy, healthy pregnancy, Health, Prenatal diet, prenatal health, prenatal fitness, myths Stephanie Ondrack Pregnancy, healthy pregnancy, Health, Prenatal diet, prenatal health, prenatal fitness, myths Stephanie Ondrack

Weighing In on Pregnancy Weight Gain

How much weight should you gain when you’re pregnant?

While a cursory glance at the internet may appear to provide a consistent answer, a deeper search risks poking a hornet’s nest of dissonant opinions. There are many ways of thinking about this question. And they fly in wildly different directions.

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Placenta Trivia
Pregnancy, placenta, amniotic fluid, amniotic sac, motherhood, hormones, myths Stephanie Ondrack Pregnancy, placenta, amniotic fluid, amniotic sac, motherhood, hormones, myths Stephanie Ondrack

Placenta Trivia

When you are pregnant, you not only grow a baby, you also grow a placenta! 

Even though the placenta has been sometimes characterised as a waste-organ, an icky footnote, or unmentionable by-product of birth (the “after birth”), it is actually an important, unique, and fascinating organ. 

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