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Archive for the 'Birth' Category

A Midwife’s Case

Yazan: Candace | 28 May 2009 | No Comments
Categories: Birth, History, Women

On Pickwick Avenue, in Leamington, Ontario there is a Heritage Centre on the second floor of the Mennonite Home.  When I was there last month I received a tour from Astrid Koop and one of the treasures she showed me  was the midwife case of Mrs. Sara Matthies (nee Retzlaff). According to the record, Sara […]

Birth Stories

Yazan: Candace | 25 May 2009 | No Comments
Categories: Birth, Book, History, Oral HIstory

I was thrilled to find In Her Own Voice: Childbirth Stories from Mennonite Women on the shelf at the university library last week. These narratives were collected in 1988 by Katherine Martens and Heidi Harms in Manitoba through a government initiative to collect oral history interviews. The women interviewed represent three separate waves of Mennonite […]

Mennonite Midwives

Yazan: Candace | 19 May 2009 | No Comments
Categories: Birth, History, Mennonite, Midwives

More from Marlene Epp. This time it’s “Midwife-Healers in Canadian Mennonite Immigrant Communities: ‘women who made things right.’” Histoire Sociale/Social History 40 (November 2007): 323-344. This one has a tiny mention of Pelee Island on page 326.

Breastmilk is Awesome

Yazan: Candace | 25 February 2008 | No Comments
Categories: Activism, Birth, Bodies, Culture, Family, Feminism, Happy, Life, Sexism, Sexuality, Technology, Third Wave

I’ve known for years (almost 14 — the age of my oldest child) that breastmilk is the absolute best thing in the world. Now there’s one more reason why it’s awesome: Breastmilk contains stem cells. Seriously. Check out that article. flickr photo by Hoover Family Photos

History that Matters

Yazan: Candace | 13 February 2008 | No Comments
Categories: Academia, Activism, Birth, Canadiana, Feminism, History, School, Women's Studies

No need to ask, I’m still not all that engaged in my school work. At least I’m crying less this term. I had to present a statement of my research project this week. (For those who forget or are tuning in mid-journey, I’m looking at something about childbirth on Pelee Island in Southern Ontario in […]

Magic Birthdays

Yazan: Candace | 07 November 2007 | 2 Comments
Categories: Birth, Family, Happy, Life

On a magic birthday your wish gets extra power points. My kid deserves it — he’s sick home from school for the third day in a row. Just think: to be turning seven on the seventh day of the month in the seventh year of the century? It doesn’t get much cooler than this! image […]

Postpartum support

Yazan: Candace | 13 September 2007 | No Comments
Categories: Birth, Canadiana, Family, Feminism, Life, Relationships, Women's Studies

Canada’s most famous midwife (according to me at least),Gloria Lemay, wrote this sample letter in 2001 for families to share after the birth of a new baby. I don’t think she’d mind at all if you edited it to fit your family’s circumstances. The main point of it is that you please ask for help […]