Birth Issues Magazine

If your baby is keeping you up at night, BIRTH ISSUES is always there to keep you company!  

Birth Issues expands the mainstream acceptance of birth – in a hospital with a doctor – by sharing stories and articles about home and independent birth centres, midwifery care, waterbirths, vaginal birth after caesareans, vaginal breech and twin births, unmedicated and undisturbed childbirth, culturally sensitive, etc. It is especially well-known for its birth stories written by ordinary, yet extra-ordinary, families. Its aim is to provide a positive perspective on childbirth and to push the boundaries of the status-quo.

TAKE BACK YOUR BIRTH!

Birth Issues started as an Alberta-wide newsletter more than 35 years ago, and grew into a full-blown glossy cover magazine published three times a year and distributed all over Canada. Of the 10,000 issues it publishes most of them are found in Alberta Safeway stores, Midwifery practices, and other professionals working with pregnant women. In 2013, Birth Issues proudly went online. It is run by volunteers who are passionate about childbirth, community education, and building bridges. It is based in Edmonton, Alberta, and published by the Association for Safe Alternatives in Childbirth (ASAC).

Birth Issues is filled with information on pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and early childhood parenting. Read birth stories, articles, poems, community listings as well as midwifery news.

Birth Issues is a tool to educate yourselves about all the options available to you. Education will empower you to make informed choices. Explore all options seriously. Learn about what is unknown to you: it may be midwifery, home births, the effects of medication, VBAC (vaginal births after a cesarean), how your environment influences your ability to relax, etc. We encourage you to assume responsibility for your health and childbirth by exercising your right to having access to up-to-date non-biased information. In this light Birth Issues is full of information which strives to encourage women, and their families, to make informed decisions…in a simple and positive way, yet never naive!

Birth Issues understands that birth is more than a medical event:

♥      Birth is not an illness or a condition, but an amazing, wonderful, exciting event that is normal, natural and healthy.

♥      Pregnancy, labour and birth have a profound effect on a woman and her family. It is an experience that is never forgotten.

♥      A woman intuitively and instinctively knows how to labour and give birth. Those caring and supporting her need to trust and respect her. A woman’s confidence and ability to give birth is either enhanced or diminished by those who care for her, by where she gives birth, and by the cascading effects of medical interventions and fear.

Birth Issues supports research. Although much more still needs to be researched, Birth Issues publishes articles supported by peer reviewed scientific research. A number of Canadian studies have shown that childbirth is safe at home (if not more safe than at the hospital) as long as you have a recognized primary caregiver such as a doctor or a registered midwife (CMAJ).

Birth Issues journal or magazine. Be aware that we are the Birth Issues magazine rather than the Birth Issues journal. The journal is an Australian periodical that was published between 1992 – 2007. To access articles from this journal, contact one of the Australian University Libraries. The University of Queensland Australia has an almost complete collection of these journals. You can request an inter-library loan.