The Birth Lounge Blog

The Issue with Hospital Provided Doulas You’re sitting at a friend's table. Your ever expanding belly is, of course, the topic of conversation. “I’m thinking about hiring a doula”, you tell your friend. In the background the sounds of her own children serve as an unending, but joyful soundtrack. “OH!” she replies, “The hospital you’re delivering at provides a doula for anyone wanting them. They’re affordable, too. Maybe even free!”. Perfect, you think. Now, you can finally stop worrying about the money aspect. “Really? I’m impressed the hospital is providing them. That makes me feel so safe”, you tell your friend. “Isn’t it amazing!?”. You agree. Pause a moment here and let’s consider a few things: Is it amazing? Or could it be problematic? Let’s break down the conflict of interest before you grab the phone and hire that hospital provided doula.  The Ethical Issue The presence of a doula is supposed to ensure an unbiased, evidence based birth environment. When you hire a doula they

How to Get Your Baby to Sleep Through the Night with Eva Klein (Taken from The Birth Lounge Podcast with Eva Klein, Certified Sleep Consultant) So I am a certified infant and child sleep consultant. I help exhausted moms get their little ones consistently sleeping through the night so that they can be functioning humans again. And I got into this business because of my middle child. So, um, I'm a wife and a mom of three. I live in Toronto, Canada and I, my kids are 10, almost eight and almost three. Um, and so it was my middle child that got me into this business because interestingly, I'm actually a lawyer by training. So my previous lifetime, um, which wasn't, which was you about 10 years ago now I was working as a lawyer. I basically finished law school, had my first baby. Um, that first baby was like this unicorn baby that made me look amazing and was just so easy and happy all the time and you know, slept amazingly. And then a couple of years later when I was done law