asac

CONTRIBUTE TO BIRTH ISSUES

Birth Issues publishes your stories and articles!

Every issue starts with real stories; stories from women and men who had a baby at home or at the hospital. They all share the transformative aspect of birth. They do not hide that birth can be work, but they also highlight that it is achievable and even enjoyable! All stories that are published are meant to be positive, empowering, and truthful.

Every issue has a theme it focuses on. The themes are printed inside Birth Issues and on this webpage. They are the basis of all informational articles. In the past the themes have been on midwifery acre, home birth, vaginal birth after cesareans, postpartum, breastfeeding, pregnancy, premature babies, infant massage, being a dad, education, holistic therapies, etc.

However when you read the articles, you will find that what you learn goes beyond the themes. You will read out about a wide variety of related subjects that inform you about how doulas make a difference, what parents do when children enter their lives, how acupuncture enables babies to be in an optimal position before birth, how making informed decisions empowers a woman, birth as a peak experience, etc.

Every issue includes your free birth announcements, midwifery news, book reviews, ads from childbirth and parenting businesses and associations, as well as lists of prenatal classes, childbirth-related events, midwives in Edmonton, and La Leche League meetings.

We also welcome your artwork, poetry and photographs relating to any of the themes highlighted in each issue. 

You don't need to be a published writer to be voiced in our magazine, so if you have something you want to share, please contact us. We welcome unsolicited birth stories and articles at any time of the year, even if they don’t fit the theme! Please email them to the Editor-in-Chief at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Upcoming Themes:

• Summer 2012...Twins: More work and more love -- deadline for submissions was April 1st, 2012
• Fall 2012...Posterior Babes: How to prevent malpositioning and failure to progress -- deadline for submissions was May 1st, 2012
• Winter 2012...Spirituality: Childbirth is more than a medical event -- deadline for submissions is October 1st, 2012
• Spring 2013...Orgasmic Body: Pleasurable pregnancy, sensuous birth, and postpartum sex -- deadline for submissions is December 1st, 2012
• Summer 2013...My baby is breech: You can give birth without surgery -- deadline for submissions is February 1st, 2013

Word limits for Submissions to Birth Issues

• Birth announcements: 100 words
• Birth stories: 500 to 2500 words
• Biographies: 50 words
• Informational articles: 1500 to 3000 words
• Letters to the editor: 300 words

Editorial Policy

• Birth Issues publishes current options in pregnancy, birth and parenting within the stated Goals & Missions of ASAC.

• The Birth Issues editorial team shall consist of 4 to 6 volunteers.  When the membership falls below 6, new volunteers will be publicly recruited. These volunteers include an editor-in-chief, general editors and proof-readers.

• The Birth Issues editorial team will furnish regular (in-person or written) reports to the ASAC board and at ASAC meetings.

• The editor-in-chief must make the content of an upcoming issue of the magazine available to the ASAC board at least 3 weeks before publication.

• All content in Birth Issues is published at the discretion of the editorial team in conjunction with the ASAC board.

• All edits (major or minor) to submissions must be made in collaboration with the author(s) of a submission. If approval between an editor and an author cannot be reached, the submission can be postponed to allow further time for discussion.

• All text must follow the following style: Title and author should be on the left-hand side and in bold. The text of all submissions should be void of italics, bolds, underlining (unless it is a bibliographic reference), excessive capitalization, repeated punctuation marks (e.g. !!!!), or automatic formatting (e.g. numbers, bullets, or end/footnotes)

• All claims in the text of a submission must be supported by a citation/bibliographic reference from research published in an article or book. Magazines, book reviews, and websites are not reliable sources. When quoting, use a superscript instead of the automatic endnote/footnote and give full reference according to the Chicago Manual of Style. Include author(s), date of publication, title of book, tile of journal article, publication city, publisher, page. Don’t hesitate to ask your editor to help you.

• Letters to the Editor will be published space permitting at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief, along with a response. Authors will not be notified if it is published. The letter is never edited. If it exceeds the word count, it will not be published at all.

• Author biographies are not promotional spaces. They should not include phone numbers, business names, or websites.

• Submissions by advertisers will be printed on a separate page from their ad and must fit within the stated Goals & Missions of ASAC.

• Submissions will not identify birth attendants (i.e. doctors, obstetricians, nurses, midwives, doulas) or businesses neither by full name nor by initials, except in birth announcements. They can be referred to by their title (i.e. ‘my doctor’ or ‘the midwife’).

• If a submission includes a criticism of the care provided by a birth attendant it should not be slanderous. Editors would advise the author to provide contextual information and to communicate non-violently rather than write a diatribe on a person. Authors can for example share their disappointment about how their care did not promote team building and how it fragilized their commitment to their vision.

• Submissions may be published under a pseudonym, at the discretion of the editors and the ASAC board.

Contact Editor-in Chief: Claire MacDonald at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it