Gloria Lemay

Gloria Lemay is a childbirth activist living in British Columbia, Canada. She has a passion for VBAC, waterbirth and ending male genital mutilation. She is a blogger at wisewomanwayofbirth.com. Her film "Birth With Gloria Lemay" was produced in 2012 and has been viewed all over the world.

Photo by A. Pressman

Photo by Melanie Wasser

Tokophobia

by Gloria Lemay August 31, 2003

“Tokophobia” is an intense anxiety or fear of death that leads to some women dreading and avoiding childbirth despite desperately wanting a baby. So, can we call this yet another piece of iatrogenic morbidity? How many women had this a hundred years ago? What has the Western childbirth model done to women?

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Courage

by Gloria Lemay August 31, 2003

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, courage is a noun meaning “ability to overcome fear or despair.” Notice fear has to be present in order for courage to exist. The English word “courage” is derived from the French word for the heart, coeur. Finding the heart to continue doing the right thing in the face of great fear inspires others to become nobler human beings. In midwifery, we see women and men facing their fears in birth; we ask them to have faith in the face of no evidence. We demand that they are bigger than the circumstances and, when they conquer, we get a renewed vision of how life can look when our fears don’t stop us. This is the source and inspiration for our own courage.

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Midwife’s Guide to an Intact Perineum

by Gloria Lemay September 1, 2001

An intact perineum is the goal of every birthing woman. We love to have whole, healthy female genitalia. Many people consider the health of the vagina/perineum to be a matter of chance, luck or being at the mercy of the circumstances of the forces that prevail at the time of the birth. Read more…. Midwife’s Guide to an Intact Perineum

Midwifery Care for the VBAC Woman

by Gloria Lemay March 1, 2001

Someone asked me what things are done differently with vaginal births after cesarean (VBAC) as opposed to a first baby. Midwives usually reply to this question with a reassuring, Oh, we treat you normally, but there are differences in the two situations that can be distinguished in midwifery practice. Read more…. Midwifery Care for the VBAC Woman

Pushing for First-Time Moms

by Gloria Lemay September 1, 2000

The expulsion of a first baby from a woman’s body is a space in time for much mischief and mishap to occur. Read more…. Pushing for First-Time Moms

La poussée pour les mères primipares

by Gloria Lemay August 1, 2000

L’expulsion d’un premier bebe du corps d’une femme est un moment critique ou plusieurs torts et contretemps peuvent survenir. Read more…. La poussée pour les mères primipares

El Pujo en las Primerizas

by Gloria Lemay August 1, 2000

La expulsión del primer bebé de la mujer es un espacio en tiempo pora que ocurran muchas travesuras y averías. Es además un espacio en tiempo cuando su futuro obstetrico frecuentemente es decido, y dónde ella puede ser bien atendida por una partera paciente y descansada. Read more…. El Pujo en las Primerizas

Pelvises I Have Known and Loved

by Gloria Lemay June 1, 1999

What if there were no pelvis? What if it were as insignificant to how a child is born as how big the nose is on the mother’s face? After twenty years of watching birth, this is what I have come to. Read more…. Pelvises I Have Known and Loved