#79: Maternal Health Part 2: Pregnancy & Post-Partum

In part two of our maternal health series, we explore the journey through pregnancy, birth, and the post-natal period – including the planning involved, the decisions made, and any healthcare a person may receive along the way. We started out our conversation with Madeleine Springate-Combs, a midwife in Ontario, who told us about why someone may choose to receive care from a midwife and the philosophy of midwifery. We also spoke to midwife Lauren Wattam, who has worked with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and practiced midwifery in missions to Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Yemen. She told us about the important roles that midwives can play throughout pregnancy and childbirth around the world and the impacts of global health outreach. We also spoke to Dr. John Kingdom, the chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and professor of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Toronto, and a clinician-scientist at Mount Sinai Hospital. He told us about some of the complications that can arise in pregnancy and the work he does to deal with them. Finally, we spoke to Jane Francis, a registered dietician and PhD candidate in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. Her work focuses on providing accessible breastfeeding support to mothers from marginalized populations.

Written by: Thamiya Vasanthakumar

Canadian Association of Midwives
Mount Sinai Ontario Fetal Centre
Medecins Sans Frontieres
Vulnerable mothers' experiences breastfeeding with an enhanced community lactation support program
Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program
Parkdale Queen West Community Health Center – Pregnancy and Parenting Programs
The danger of a single story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice by Terry Tempest Williams