Some useful websites
There are so many good and informative websites out there that it's hard to choose among them. Many of the links listed below will be of interest to pregnant women and families everywhere. There are also many links with information specifically for residents of British Columbia, Canada, and even more specifically to the Fraser Valley area. Remember to read all information on 'popular' websites critically!
One of the best websites for researched, evidence-based information is: Baby's Best Chance, a downloadable PDF booklet containing all the information you need for your pregnancy, birth and baby: http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/library/publications/year/2015/babys-best-chance-2015.pdf A good B.C. government website with a new (August 2013) section on Pregnancy and Parenting: http://www.healthyfamiliesbc.ca/parenting Another good website by the Fraser Health Authority, with information on everything to do with pregnancy, labour, birth, baby, breastfeeding: http://www.fraserhealth.ca/health-info/pregnancy-and-babies/ If you would like to know more about fertility and the decision about whether to have a baby now, or later, or never, check out the new UBC website: http://myfertilitychoices.com/ Videos There are lots of great videos of births - home births,water births, Caesarean sections - and a few of other aspects of pregnancy and baby care. Here are a few fun and interesting ones: How your baby grows and develops, from egg and sperm to newborn in your arms, all in six minutes! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_22CFCxDUy0 How babies move through their mother's birth canals - they are definitely active during labour! www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo6BexVICQo&NR=1 Pregnancy
Choices in Childbirth - a good all round site https://choicesinchildbirth.org/expecting-moms/newly-pregnant/
Canadian Pediatric Society - 'caring for kids' www.caringforkids.cps.ca
Lamaze International - another good all round site www.lamaze.org
Childbirth Connection - a good site with current research information http://www.childbirthconnection.org/maternity-care/ Maternity at Home - a good site with interesting and informative articles - http://maternityathome.com/
Women's Health - has a section on pregnancy https://www.womenshealth.gov/pregnancy/
Best Start - a site with information in French and English www.beststart.org
World Health Organization - an international site with excellent information www.who.int/topics/pregnancy/en
iVillage Pregnancy and Parenting - lots of info here! www.ivillage.com/pregnancy-parenting BC Womens Hosptial information on pregnancy http://www.bcwomens.ca/health-info/pregnancy-parenting/pregnancy Maternity Wise, a British site with good information http://www.maternitywise.org/
Some of the most popular sites are also good sources of information, including:
Nutrition
Health Link BC information on nutrition in pregnancy, breastfeeding and for babies and children http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/search/index.asp?filter=ht&searchterm=nutrition&search-button.x=0&search-button.y=0&search-button=search
Canadian Dietitians - information for everyone www.dietitians.ca
Canada Food Guide - for information about calcium, iron, folic acid, vitamins, etc. www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng.php
A new (2012) guide from Health Canada on infant nutrition http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/infant-nourisson/index-eng.php?utm_source=email-infant-vanity&utm_medium=email-vanity&utm_campaign=email-blast Exercise
BC Women's Hospital information http://www.bcwomens.ca/health-info/pregnancy-parenting/exercise-pregnancy Fit to Deliver www.fittodeliver.com
Yoga online www.myyogaonline.com Sleep Here's a site that's all about sleep - and how you can get more of it: https://www.tuck.com/pregnancy-and-sleep/
Nausea and vomiting ('morning sickness')
Mother Risk (Toronto Sick Kids Hospital) - excellent information, particularly on medications and on nausea and vomiting in pregnancy www.motherisk.org/women/index.jsp
Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (SOGC) - for information on nausea and vomiting (and other aspects of pregnancy - check the index) www.sogc.org/health/pregnancy-nausea_e.asp
Genetic screening
BC Prenatal Genetic Screening Program - the screens and tests you will be offered in pregnancy www.bcprenatalscreening.ca
Canadian Down Syndrome Society www.cdss.ca
LABOUR AND BIRTH Prenatal education/classes in the Lower Mainland (B.C.C) www.childbearing.org About.com Pregnancy and Childbirth - an American site with good
information, well organized; includes everything you might want to know www.pregnancy.about.com/od/laborbirth/p/laborbasics.htm
Baby Centre - a British site with good information on a variety of
subjects to do with labour and birth, mostly consistent with the
Canadian system, although you will find some differences www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/labourandbirth
BC Women's Cesarean Task Force - a site about childbirth choices in
BC, including VBAC and vaginal birth with a breech baby. Includes video clips of women talking about their birth experiences www.powertopush.ca Optimal Fetal Positioning - a site about how to make sure your baby's in a good position before labour www.homebirth.org.uk/ofp.htm Hypnobabies - a new approach to labour and birth, using self-hypnosis for relaxation www.hypnobabies.com
Skin-to-Skin Care: http://www.kangaroomothercare.com/birth-kmc.aspx Doulas
(women who provide individualized support in labour and postpartum)
DONA International - for information about doulas and to find a doula www.dona.org
BC doula organization www.bcdoulas.org Water birth Water birth international - comprehensive information on water birth www.waterbirth.org
Water birth information - general information www.waterbirthinfo.comHome birth College of Midwives of BC - statement on home birth; the College is the licensing body for all B.C. midwives http://cmbc.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/13.01-Statement-on-Home-Birth.pdf
BC Homebirth Demonstration Project - a review of safety and effectiveness www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/166/3/315
Homebirth - a British site with good basic information www.homebirth.org.uk
BC Women's Cesarean Task Force - a site about childbirth choices in
BC, with video clips of women talking about their birth experiences www.powertopush.ca
BC Perinatal Health Program - a 2008 report on C-sections and ways
of promoting a natural labour; a very detailed report with facts and
statistics about C-sections, why they are on the rise, and what can be
done to reduce their numbers
International Cesarean Awareness Network - for information about Cesarean section and VBAC www.ican-online.org
Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) www.vbac.com Skin-to-Skin Care: http://www.kangaroomothercare.com/birth-kmc.aspx Depression and Anxiety (may occur in pregnancy or after the baby is born) Bounce Back - an online program with videos and worksheets that you can access any time, for free! http://www.bouncebackonline.ca/
Pacific Postpartum Support - a local organization for support for postpartum depression www.postpartum.org Anxiety - a great site www.anxietybc.com/
BABIES!
Canadian Pediatric Society - information on everything to do with babies and kids www.caringforkids.cps.ca
Canadian Pediatric Society - 2015 guideline on eye medications for babies http://www.cps.ca/en/documents/position/ophthalmia-neonatorum World Health Organization www.who.int/topics/infant_newborn/en/
Dr. Sears - two pediatricians who give good information www.askdrsears.com
Skin-to-Skin Care: http://www.kangaroomothercare.com/birth-kmc.aspx Baby Wearing International - safe ways to 'wear' your baby (slings etc.) www.babywearinginternational.org
Under Cover Mother - safe ways to 'wear' your baby www.undercovermother.net Health Canada recommendations on infant nutrition - an excellent source of information on when and what to feed your baby! http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/infant-nourisson/index-eng.php?utm_source=email-infant-vanity&utm_medium=email-vanity&utm_campaign=email-blast Sleep - how to help your baby (and you) get more of it https://www.tuck.com/parents-guide-healthy-sleep/
Baby and Child Safety information www.healthycanadians.gc.ca/kids - covers all subjects from nutrition to crib and car seat safety
www.cw.bc.ca/safestart - from BC Childrens Hospital; see in particular the home safety checklist, available in many languages http://www.bcwomens.ca/health-info/pregnancy-parenting/newborn-infant-safety - from BC Womens hospital - the basics
http://www.parachutecanada.org/safekidscanada - this is a site where you can search issues and questions by topic
http://www.icbc.com/road-safety/safer-drivers/Pages/Child-car-seats.aspx - ICBC site information on child car seat safety in several languages Co-sleeping with your baby - 30 years of research supporting co-sleeping and how to co-sleep safely with your baby http://www.naturalchild.org/james_mckenna/ and http://cosleeping.nd.edu/frequently-asked-questions/ BREASTFEEDING Jack Newman - absolutely the best site on breast feeding! http://www.nbci.ca/
La Leche League International - another good all round site www.llli.org
Breastfeeding basics www.breastfeedingbasics.com
Mass Breastfeeding - checklists and information www.massbreastfeeding.org
INFACT Canada - site about the benefits of breast feeding www.infactcanada.ca
Kelly Mom - breastfeeding and parenting www.kellymom.com
Breastfeeding online www.breastfeedingonline.com
Safety of drugs and medications in pregnancy and breast feeding: Motherisk (Toronto Sick Kids Hospital) - one of the best sites (also a 1-800 number you can call) www.motherisk.org
Drug Alert - a good site from the USA www.drugalert.org/safety/pregnancy-and-medication-safety
Safe Fetus - a good but basic site www.safefetus.com
Drug information sites - www.drugs.com and www.rxlist.com and www.drugwatch.com
WOMENS' HEALTH
Women's College Hospital www.womenshealthmatters.ca
Our Bodies Our Selves http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/health-information/
Sexuality and contraception
Sexuality and U - an excellent Canadian site www.sexualityandu.ca
Options for health www.optionsforsexualhealth.org Understanding your reproductive system https://scribeschool.net/reproductive-system-info-for-scribes.html
Information on specific diseases
Canadian Centre for Disease Control - excellent information on communicable diseases (measles, Fifth Disease) and STDs www.cdc.gov BC MIDWIVES AND MIDWIFERY
Midwives Association of BC (MABC) - directory of all midwives and practices in the province (find a midwife) www.bcmidwives.com
College of Midwives of BC (CMBC) - regulations for BC midwives www.cmbc.bc.ca
BC Perinatal Health Providers (BCPHP) - guidelines for all perinatal health providers http://www.perinatalservicesbc.ca/
Canadian Association of Midwives - midwifery in Canada www.canadianmidwives.org UBC Midwifery Program - for those interested in becoming midwives http://midwifery.ubc.ca/ The Big Push - a site for and about midwifery www.thebigpushformidwives.org Midwifery Today - online magazine www.midwiferytoday.com
Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (SOGC) Guidelines that all Canadian maternity care providers (nurses, doctors, midwives, obstetricians) are meant to follow when providing care for pregnant, birthing and post-partum women www.sogc.org/guidelines http://givingbirthwithconfidence.org
Blogs on a variety of pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding issues by
well-informed writers from organizations such as La Leche League and
Lamaze
www.scienceandsensibility.org A research blog about healthy pregnancy, birth and beyond; good information by a qualified academic
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