Tori Smith
QUICK TIP: HOW TO NAVIGATE THE UNSOLICITED ADVICE
How does one discern which pieces of advice to heed and which to dismiss? For starters, trust your instincts. Your intuition is your most...
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BLOG POSTS
Tori Smith
BOOK PRE SALE and SNEAK PEEK
BIG NEWS! My book, my creative baby that I've been working on over the last couple of years, my message that I have to share with the...
Tori Smith
PREPARING FOR FATHERHOOD (OR SECONDARY PARENTING)
As the person in the partnership who is not carrying the child, you are usually referred to as the “secondary caregiver”. But that does...
Tori Smith
BETTER YET, ADOPTION
Adoption is not something that I have direct personal experience with, but it is something my partner and I are strongly considering for...
Tori Smith
CHOOSE THE RIGHT PARTNER (PRE-PREGNANCY, IF POSSIBLE)
Choosing the right partner is intrinsically important to every aspect of pregnancy, birth and parenting so try not to get pregnant with a...
Tori Smith
PRACTICAL TIPS FOR THE BIRTH PARTNER - 4 WAYS TO PROVIDE SUPPORT IN LABOUR
You’ll probably hear, over and over, that your role is to support the mother in labour. But it’s not always clear exactly how to provide...
Tori Smith
THINGS THEY DON'T TELL YOU ABOUT PREGNANCY AND BIRTH
Miscarriages are surprisingly common. Likely, many women you know have experienced one or more. And not talking about it doesn’t make it...
Tori Smith
WHY OUR MOTHERS GIVE US BAD ADVICE
Prepare yourself. The unsolicited, outdated advice and the dire warnings are coming! Some are more questionable than others. Some are...
Tori Smith
NOURISHMENT IN PREGNANCY
As a self-proclaimed professor of unpopular opinion, I’m about to say two of the most unpopular things I could utter to a pregnant woman:...
Tori Smith
LONG LIVE THE MIDWIFE
Once you become pregnant, you will initially be under the care of your family doctor. If you have certain risk factors, you will likely...
Tori Smith
CIRCUMCISION DECISION
Before I got pregnant, my position on circumcision was neutral. Like many, I accepted it as a normal custom in our culture. I knew that...
Tori Smith
WHAT YOU DON'T NEED
Be wary; starting pretty much at the moment that feisty little sperm fertilizes your egg, every baby business starts to hone in on you...
Tori Smith
WHAT YOU DO NEED
When you’re in nesting mode but limited in time, energy and/or money, it can be helpful to focus on the essentials of what you really...
Tori Smith
HOME BIRTH, NATURAL BIRTH, WATER BIRTH
If you choose to plan for a home birth, you are opting for a natural birth; meaning without medication or medical intervention. A natural...
Tori Smith
EMOTIONALLY IN TUNE
Pregnant women – they are so emotional, so sensitive, so dramatic, so hormonal. They’ll cry over anything. Their behaviour is laughable,...
Tori Smith
TIPS FOR YOUR LABOUR SPACE
Though you don’t have much control of how your labour is going to play out, you can control elements of the environment in your birthing...
Tori Smith
OLDER SIBLINGS AT A HOME BIRTH
A home or birth center setting allows you the option of having your older child(ren) present with you. It is normal to have worries and...
Tori Smith
WATER BIRTH
Water birth can be part of your home birth plan. My second birth took place at home in an inflatable pool in the middle of our dining...
Tori Smith
PLACENTA ENCAPSULATION
You may be wondering why on Earth anyone would ever even consider ingesting their placenta. For the answer to that, we first look at the...
Tori Smith
BIRTH STORIES MATTER
There tends to be this narrative, in conventional birth, that so long as the baby is birthed and stable, nothing else matters. But it...
Tori Smith
SELF-CARE IN PREGNANCY
I remember feeling a strong sense of responsibility and desire to protect my unborn baby, in every sense. I wanted to physically provide...
Tori Smith
BREASTFEEDING FOR BEGINNERS
Be prepared for a learning curve with your breastfeeding journey. There is a lot to learn. So much of it I didn’t learn until after my...
Tori Smith
WHEN IN DOUBT, DOULA
A doula was first described to me as a mother to the mother in labour. Whereas a midwife or doctor’s main concern is for the delivery of...
Tori Smith
SCRAP THE BIRTH PLAN
Many pregnant women start to get that urge to come up with a rigid birth plan. You’ll be hours in from taking your pregnancy test, you’ll...
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