Waterbirth Coalition of Canada

08/28/2026

🍓 FEATURE FRIDAY | Ode’imin Birth Centre 💧

This week, we’re celebrating Ode’imin, formerly known as The Birth Centre, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Operated by the Women’s Health Clinic, Ode’imin offers a safe, welcoming and client-centred space for people experiencing low-risk pregnancies who are looking for an alternative to giving birth at home or in hospital.

The centre was gifted the Spirit name Ode’imin — the Anishinaabemowin/Ojibwe word for strawberry — carrying the beautiful teaching:

✨ “Where new life comes from.” ✨

Birth centres like Ode’imin demonstrate what is possible when birth spaces are designed around comfort, autonomy, informed choice and family-centred care.

For families interested in waterbirth, access to supportive birth environments can provide another meaningful option for labour and birth while remaining surrounded by their chosen care team.

At the Waterbirth Coalition of Canada, we love highlighting Canadian birth centres and the professionals who are helping create more choices for families across the country. 🇨🇦💙

Here’s to spaces that honour birth, culture, choice and new beginnings. 🍓💧

08/24/2026

💧 MYTHBUSTER MONDAY 💧

❌ MYTH: You can’t move around in the pool during labour.

✅ FACT: One of the beautiful benefits of labouring in water is the freedom to move.

Water provides natural buoyancy, helping support the weight of the body and making it easier to change positions throughout labour. That freedom can help you listen to your body and find the positions that feel most comfortable and effective.

Movement and position changes during labour may help:

💧 Reduce pressure and discomfort
💧 Encourage relaxation and conserve energy
💧 Support pelvic mobility
💧 Help baby navigate through the pelvis and descend
💧 Allow the birthing person to instinctively respond to what their body needs

You aren’t confined to one position simply because you’re in the water. Kneeling, squatting, leaning forward, side-lying, floating or changing between positions can all be possibilities depending on the pool, your comfort, and your individual care plan.

✨ Water doesn’t restrict movement—it can create more freedom for it.

EDUCATION. EVIDENCE. EMPOWERMENT.

Because informed choices lead to positive birth experiences. 💙

What waterbirth myth should we bust next Monday? Drop it in the comments! 👇

WaterImmersion BirthEducation InformedBirth PhysiologicalBirth BirthSupport JustAddWater

08/24/2026

08/19/2026

🌊 The History of Waterbirth

Waterbirth is not a modern trend—it is a practice rooted in centuries of observation, intuition, and respect for the natural birthing process.

Historical accounts suggest that women have laboured and birthed in water across many cultures for generations. In the 1800s, there are documented cases in Europe of women using warm baths for pain relief during labour. However, it wasn’t until the 20th century that waterbirth began to be explored more formally.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Russian researcher Igor Charkovsky began studying the benefits of water for newborn adaptation and maternal comfort. Around the same time, French obstetrician Frédérick Leboyer introduced the concept of a gentler, less traumatic birth experience, including the use of warm water to ease the baby’s transition into the world.

Waterbirth gained wider recognition in the 1980s through the work of Michel Odent, who implemented birthing pools in hospitals in France. His research and clinical observations demonstrated that water could reduce labour pain, support physiological birth, and promote a calm, undisturbed environment.

Building on this foundation, Barbara Harper became one of the most influential global educators and advocates for waterbirth. Through her organization, Waterbirth International, she has educated professionals in over 80 countries and helped establish waterbirth as a safe and evidence-based option for families around the world.

Today, waterbirth is supported by a growing body of research and is practiced in homes, birth centres, and hospitals globally. It is recognized for its ability to promote relaxation, reduce interventions, and create a gentle, empowering birth experience.

At the Waterbirth Coalition of Canada, we honour this rich history while continuing to advocate for safe, accessible, and informed waterbirth options for all families.

08/17/2026

💧 MYTHBUSTER MONDAY 💧

❌ MYTH: You have to leave the birth pool to birth the placenta.

✅ FACT: In many circumstances, the placenta can be birthed while the parent remains in the water.

The birth of your baby doesn’t necessarily mean your time in the pool has to end immediately. For some families, remaining in the warm water during the third stage of labour can allow those first moments after birth to remain calm, warm and undisturbed. 💙

Whether the placenta is birthed in or out of the pool should be individualized and guided by the clinical situation, the parent’s preferences, and their midwife or healthcare provider’s assessment and protocols.

There may be circumstances where leaving the pool is recommended—for example, if closer assessment or management of bleeding is needed. Safety and appropriate clinical monitoring always come first.

Waterbirth isn’t simply about where the baby is born. It’s about informed choice, individualized care and understanding the options available throughout the entire birth experience.

💧 Education. Evidence. Empowerment.

What waterbirth myth should we bust next Monday? Drop it in the comments. 👇

Midwifery BirthEducation InformedBirth PhysiologicalBirth BirthChoices JustAddWater

08/15/2026

It’s Indigenous Milk Medicine Week!

This year’s theme:
🔥 We Keep the Fires Lit: Rising Through Milk Medicine 🔥
“Fire represents the responsibility to tend what sustains life - our knowledge, families, and our future generations. Even amid hardship and shifting challenges, Indigenous communities endure through brilliance, adaptation, and relationship. First foods carry memory and medicine forward, nourishing not only our bodies and our babies, but the continuity of our communities.” - Indigenous Milk Medicine Collective (IMMC)

From August 8 to 14, IMMC hosts Indigenous Milk Medicine Week that is dedicated to promoting equity in Native first food experiences.

Our very own Elizabeth Montez (Flower Moon Families), IBCLC & Open Arms’ Lactation Support Program Clinical Lead & Community Educator, created this beautiful art piece, illustrating Native first food. ✨

08/14/2026

💧 FEATURE FRIDAY | WASKAGANISH BIRTHING HOME, QUÉBEC 💧

This Feature Friday, we’re travelling to Eeyou Istchee in northern Québec to celebrate a beautiful new space where birth, culture, family and water come together.

The Waskaganish Birthing Home opened its doors on May 25, 2026, bringing midwifery-led birth closer to home for families in Waskaganish, Eastmain and Nemaska. (Cree Health)

What makes this birthing home particularly special is the way the space has been created with Cree culture and traditions at its heart. Traditional Cree colours and patterns inspired the building’s design, creating an environment that reflects both the culture and the land of the community. (Cree Health)

And, of course, something very close to our hearts at the Waterbirth Coalition of Canada:

💧 Waterbirth is an option.

The 710 m² birthing home includes two birth rooms with the option for waterbirth, three consultation offices and a spacious, light-filled family gathering area. Midwifery care is available throughout pregnancy, birth and up to six weeks postpartum. (Cree Health)

The Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay describes its midwifery care as comprehensive, continuous and culturally safe, respecting Cree traditions while allowing families to experience birth within their own community and surrounded by the people they love. (Cree Health)

This is exactly why we love Feature Friday.

Across Canada, communities are demonstrating that birth can be safe, respectful, culturally meaningful and family-centred — and that waterbirth deserves to be part of those choices.

Congratulations to the Waskaganish community and everyone involved in bringing this beautiful vision to life. 💙

Every family. Every choice. Every place.

💧 Support. Protect. Promote.
Waterbirth and Birth Choice in Canada.

Waskaganish EeyouIstchee IndigenousMidwifery IndigenousBirth CreeHealth BirthCentre CanadianMidwives RespectfulMaternityCare WaterbirthCoalitionOfCanada

08/12/2026

11 YEARS AGO, I CHOSE BIRTH WORK. 💧

Eleven years ago, I stepped into birth work—a decision that would change the direction of my life.

Along the way, I discovered waterbirth and became fascinated by its physiology, calm, autonomy and potential to transform the birth experience.

Then I found Barbara Harper and Waterbirth International.

After completing Barbara’s online waterbirth training, I sent her a message with a pretty big question:

“Will you help me change the way babies are born in Canada?” 🇨🇦💧

That message became the beginning of something I could never have imagined.

It eventually led to the creation of Waterbirth Canada—now the Waterbirth Coalition of Canada, a national organization advocating for education, evidence-informed practice and greater access to waterbirth across Canada.

Today, that mission continues to grow as we bring innovative waterbirth products and solutions to Canada, educate and support birth professionals, and work to remove barriers for families.

Through it all, Barbara has remained an incredible mentor, educator and inspiration.

From one course…
to one message…
to a national movement. 💙

Education. Advocacy. Innovation. Access.

And we’re only getting started. 💧🇨🇦

BirthAdvocacy BirthEducation JustAddWater

08/09/2026

Couldn’t be explained any better if you’re not following Augustine, please go give her a follow. She is incredible. .

08/07/2026

✨ Feature Friday: Lucina Birth Centre ✨

This week we’re highlighting the beautiful Lucina Birth Centre in Edmonton, Alberta—a welcoming, non-profit birth centre dedicated to providing families with a peaceful, home-like environment for birth under the care of a Registered Midwife.

Designed for healthy, low-risk pregnancies, Lucina Birth Centre features two private birthing suites thoughtfully equipped with spacious waterbirth tubs, large showers, birth stools, exercise and peanut balls, birth slings, dimmable lighting, climate control, TENS machines, nitrous oxide, and emergency medical supplies. Every detail has been carefully considered to help families feel safe, comfortable, and empowered throughout labour and birth.

What truly sets Lucina apart is its commitment to inclusive, family-centred care. The centre welcomes all cultural, spiritual, and ceremonial practices and strives to ensure every family feels respected, supported, and celebrated. Through the Lucina Family Support Fund, financial assistance is also available to help make out-of-hospital birth more accessible for families facing systemic or financial barriers.

At the Waterbirth Coalition of Canada, we are proud to celebrate birth centres like Lucina that champion informed choice, physiologic birth, and evidence-based midwifery care. Their warm, calming environment reminds us that birth can be both safe and deeply empowering.

📍 Lucina Birth Centre
9505 163 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5P 3M6

📧 Email: [email protected]