Women's Health Resources

Local

Ottawa Childbirth Education Association

As you prepare for the arrival of your baby you likely have a ton of questions and want to prepare as much as possible. The Ottawa Childbirth Education Association can help you to feel really well prepared before & after your baby is welcomed into your family with a range of classes including:

 

  • Prenatal
  • Prenatal for parents expecting multiples
  • Comfort measures
  • Bringing Baby Home
  • CPR
  • Grandparents class (to bridge the generational gap)
  • Infant & Toddler Sleep
  • Infant Massage
  • And NICU Doula Services

Ottawa Breastfeeds

Ottawa Breastfeeds was created to help provide Ottawa and regional families with easy access to information about the many sources of breastfeeding support. It also serves to enhance a breastfeeding friendly community by providing breastfeeding curriculum for teachers, information for businesses to support breastfeeding mothers, and information for breastfeeding mothers regarding a supportive workplace.

La Leche League Ottawa

La Leche League is a volunteer-run, international organization that offers breastfeeding support to women & families. This link provides you with a list of Ottawa chapters along with the dates of their monthly meetings.

 

Check our Facebook page to learn about the monthly La Leche League meetings that we facilitate in our studio at the Barrhaven clinic.

Infant Sleep Education

Three Infant Sleep Educators in the Ottawa area banded together to bring us this website filled with easy to find information on normal newborn (and toddler) sleep patterns for expectant and new parents.

Milkface Lactation Services

Milkface is located in Westboro and offers a range of lactation services by lactation consultants including:

  • Private consultations
  • Drop-in clinics
  • Sales and rental of equipment such as pumps, scales, nipple shields, bras, galactogogue herbs and more
  • An extensive breastfeeding & human lactation resource library
  • Prenatal breastfeeding classes for new parents
  • Other classes & workshops

Motherwit Ottawa Doula Care

MotherWit Ottawa offers doula care services for birth & postpartum, as well as incredible support events including:

  • Prenatal classes
  • Weekly lactation connections for breastfeeding support

Their vision is for every parent-to-be, birth giver, birth partner and new parent to feel amazing about themselves.

Their mission  is to offer nuanced, personalized services to meet your unique needs, providing you with insightful support for extraordinary transformation.

Mothercraft Postpartum Support

Mothercraft Ottawa is a charitable, non-profit organization that provides programs and services for parents with infants and young children.

They have Postpartum Support Drop-In Programs aimed at providing families with a safe and supportive environment where they can explore postpartum issues and learn coping strategies and skills. Their goal is to create a sense of community and reduce feelings of isolation. Programs are available for moms & for dads!

Here Comes Baby Video Series

Preparing for the arrival of a baby can feel overwhelming. We love this video series put together by Parenting in Ottawa (an Ottawa Public Health project) that will walk you through the basics including:

 

  • Bathing your baby
  • Jaundice in the newborn
  • Postpartum recovery
  • Diaper change demonstration
  • Postpartum mental health
  • Newborn behaviours

Other

Pregnancy Info - Society of Obstetrician's and Gynecologists of Canada

This comprehensive website brought to us by The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada covers a wealth of information on the journey from pre-conception all the way to the postpartum period.

Spinning Babies

Spinning babies offers information about steps pregnant women can take to increase the likelihood of an easier birth by improving fetal positioning. You can do these daily activities to help your little one into an optimum position.

eMentalHealth - Postpartum Depression

e-MentalHealth has pulled together some amazing information + a list of great resources both local to Ottawa & in the form of books and online resources… all in one place!

Birthful Podcast

This podcast looks through two lenses: 1) that of new parents & their experiences and 2) bringing information to us from pregnancy, birth & postpartum experts. 1) It aims at building your trust of your own parenting instincts and 2) it brings you great, evidenced-based information so that you can be informed!

The Transition into Parenthood

In this podcast episode, you’ll be walked through 8 stages that can be expected by couples as they transition into being a parenting duo. This is fantastic information to help you feel more prepared, or to better deal with, this very transformative time in your lives together as a growing family.

Kelly Mom

This website is a culmination of evidence-based information on breastfeeding and parenting created by Kelly Bonyata, mother to three children and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).

International Breastfeeding Centre

This is the official website for the Newman Breastfeeding Clinic which provides reliable and well-researched information based on 34 years of Dr. Jack Newman’s leadership, experience and our evidence-based practice.  They offer real, practical breastfeeding help.

Dr. Jack Newman's Visual Guide to Breastfeeding

This video helps mothers to understand techniques and the importance of breastfeeding by cutting through some of the contradictory information that often makes breastfeeding so confusing and difficult.

The Badass Breastfeeding Podcast

This is a weekly podcast dedicated to busting breastfeeding myths and providing reliable breastfeeding information to help people reach their breastfeeding goals.

Heart Attacks in Women

With heart disease coming in at the 2nd leading cause of death in women in Canada, it’s worth being familiar with the symptoms which differ than those for men experiencing heart attack. 

“Women often have back, shoulder, or stomach pain.”

Learn more in this article by IFL Science.