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Birth stories...
because sharing stories is empowering.
First Place
Ashley Lightfoot from Squamish, BC
Second Place
Lori Sebastianutti from Stoney Creek, ON
Third Place
Mercedes Papalia from York, ON
Honorable Mention
Danielle BoByk from Kingston, ON
Angela Douglas from Summerland, BC
Susan Flanagan from St. John’s, NL
Christine Folan from Chatham, ON
Jenna Kovacic from Richmond Hill, ON
Dana MacDonald from Kingston, ON
Sheena McDonald from Toronto, ON
Julie Meier from Calgary, AB
Kristin Nuttal from Pemberton, BC
Brittany Oliver from Welland, ON
Camille Ramsberger from Keswick, ON
Alison Ryder from Kingston, ON
Sharon Chisvin from Winnipeg, MB
Labour, Delivery and a Grateful Grandmother
Leah Timmerman from Maberly, ON
She Who Brings Forth the Blossoms
Sabrina Walach from Toronto, ON
Sara Wettlaufer from Petawawa, ON
Sara Wood-Gates from Burlington, ON
More birth stories
Jennifer Roberts, from Clarenville, NL
Sabrina Malach from Toronto, ON
Lisa Brenner from Kitchener, ON
Aly Guildford from Huntsville, ON
Jessica Cheyne from Woodstock, ON
by Ashley Lightfoot
First-Place Laureate 2020
Residing in Squamish, BC with her partner, Eric, two kidlets, and a kitty, Ashley became a certified doula after the birth of her first child. She adores helping families create peaceful and joyous transformation. Ashley is a member of the BC Doula Services Association, as well as the Tantalus Wellspring Society, a charity which assists those experiencing barriers in accessing mental wellness therapies.
She can be reached at www.moonbeamdoula.ca
BIRTH STORIES
Meet the winners of the Birth Story Contest and read their birth stories.
These stories are the beginning of a birth culture change,
a culture of solidarity, strength and resilience.
by Lori Sebastianutti
Second-Place Laureate 2020
Lori is a writer and teacher from Stoney Creek, Ontario. She is the former managing editor of the Fertility Matters Canada blog and her most recent work appeared in The Hamilton Review of Books.
You can find her on Twitter @sebastianl74 and on Instagram @sebastianlwrites and can read more of her work at lorisebastianutti.com.
by Mercedes Papalia
Third-Place Laureate 2020
Mercedes is a multi-disciplinary storyteller through art, design, and creative writing. Her journey began as an acting and vocal student at a young age and she continues to expand and diversify her creative practices. She currently works as an interior stylist, visual artist, and production designer for film and television. Mercedes is a devoted mother, wife, and lover of fresh flowers and authentic Italian food, forever in the pursuit of a beautiful life.
by Susan Flanagan
Honorable Mention
Susan Flanagan has worked as a freelance journalist (BJ, King’s College, NS, 1991) and columnist in St. John’s, NL for almost 30 years.
Two of her novels will be published in 2021: The Degrees of Barley Lick (Running the Goat Books & Broadsides) and Supermarket Baby, winner 2019 Percy Janes First Novel Award (Flanker Press).
To find out more here or on her Facebook page.
by Camille Ramsperger
Honorable Mention
Camille Ramsperger is a 26-year-old single mother to a beautiful baby boy named Theodore. She is a full-time nurse working in the emergency department at her nearest hospital. She meant to write her birth story so as not to forget it, and the Birth Story Contest gave her the motivation to do so.
by Leah Timmermann
Honorable Mention
Leah Timmermann lives in rural Eastern Ontario. She works as a midwife but is currently on leave with her 3-month-old daughter. She and her family live in a tiny house that they built on their family's land. She loves reading, cooking, and anything outdoors.
by Angela Douglas
Honorable Mention
Angela Douglas has written on and off through the years. Most of her University focus was dedicated to English, Creative Writing,
and Journalism. In her career, she has written copy, web content, brochures, and other trade-related material for various industries. Outside of work, she has recently produced a handful of manuscripts, yet to be published. She is currently a real estate agent and proud mother of two in sunny Summerland, BC.
by Brittany Oliver
Honorable Mention
Brittany Oliver has been an Ontario midwife for three years and has recently become a new mother! In fact, she is currently on leave with her beautiful baby girl, born on April 14th, 2020. The shift from midwife to mama has been wonderful, eye-opening, challenging and so fulfilling. Creative writing has been a hobby and outlet of hers since childhood. She lives in Welland, Ontario with her husband and daughter, their aussie shepherd, and 13-year-old turtle.
by Christine Folan
Honorable Mention
Christine Folan is a married mother of two living in Southwestern Ontario. She is a high school English and Drama teacher for the French Catholic School board in her region. An avid reader, she is trying to instill a love of fantasy, adventure and mystery into her children by making them lovers of books and stories.
by Dana MacDonald
Honorable Mention
Dana has been a registered nurse for 10 years. She is currently working as a surgical nurse at Kingston Health Sciences Centre.
She lives in Kingston, Ontario, and is a proud mom of two kids (Dylan and Zoe) and one dog, named Storm.
by Danielle BoByk
Honorable Mention
Danielle was born and raised in Vancouver, BC, before moving to Kingston in 2013 to be with her now husband. She has a degree in kinesiology from the University of British Columbia and worked in various positions as a registered kinesiologist before shifting her focus to a career in editing. She is now a freelance editor who works primarily with self-publishing authors as well as the editor for a vintage car club magazine.
by Jenna Kovacic
Honorable Mention
Jenna is enjoying life with her husband, son and daughter. After her first birth experience, she knew she needed to do something with her newfound passion and so, she became a doula! She is a promoter of self-care, a lover of meditation, simple living, books, any outdoor activity and tries to be as present as possible in her everyday life.
You can reach her on Facebook or Instagram : @over.the.moon.birth
by Julie Meier
Honorable Mention
Julie was born and raised in Calgary, and now lives on a farm where she can enjoy a view of the Calgary skyline and Rocky Mountains as she writes at her kitchen table. Her work has been published in several online journals and she has been shortlisted for a number of flash fiction story contests. When she is not writing, you might find Julie outside cuddling sheep, or devising new ways to embarrass her teenagers.You can follow Julie at Twitter @Julie_M_Meier
by Kristin Nuttall
Honorable Mention
Kristin has had the opportunity to attend many births as a doula and biodynamic craniosacral therapist. The more she learned about birth, the greater her reverence became and the greater her passion grew in assisting mothers to have empowered birthing experiences. Kristin’s greatest birthing support mentor is Gloria Lemay from Vancouver, BC. Many women of the Sea-to-Sky corridor had had "Gloria babies". Kristin took the "Wise Woman Way of Birth' and "Birth Takes a Village".
by Alison Ryder
Honorable Mention
Ali Ryder is a Canadian advisor on policies and programs that help the homeless. She's lived in Kingston, Ontario for 16 years since attending Queen's University. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, ultimate frisbee, and board games. This is her fifth pregnancy and first birth.
by Sara Wettlaufer
Honorable Mention
Sara and her husband Paul are originally from the Hamilton area. She is an elementary school teacher while he is a member of the Canadian Armed Forces. Due to his military career, they currently reside in Petawawa, ON with their daughter and two dogs. Prior to this recent move, they spent two years in Brantford, ON, where their daughter, Isla, was born. They are indebted to the Community Midwives of Brantford for their fabulous care during her birth.
by Sheena McDonald
Honorable Mention
Sheena lives in Toronto with her husband, two-year-old daughter and two cats -- who gets a shout out in her story! Although she is able to fulfill her love of writing on a daily basis as a communications professional in the non-profit sector, she will seize any opportunity to write creatively.
by Sara Wood-Gates
Honorable Mention
Sara Wood-Gates is a single mother of two children living in Burlington Ontario. She has spent most of her career in various customer service roles from serving in restaurants to planning events to counselling job seekers on their careers. Currently, Sara works as a Pre-Sales Solution Architect for an American company which has allowed her to work from home since 2013. Sara is excited to draw from her wealth of personal stories as she dabbles in writing.
by Sharon Chisvin
Honorable Mention
Sharon Chisvin is a Winnipeg mother of three adult children and a grateful grandmother of two precious grandsons. She works as a journalist, editor and oral historian, and is the author of the children’s picture book, The Girl Who Cannot Eat Peanut Butter.
by Sabrina Malach
Sabrina Malach is a lifelong environmental advocate working in urban agriculture and pollinator conservation. She is a beekeeper and an urban farmer and her sweetest harvest is the birth of her beautiful daughter, Mira Orli. Sabrina lives in Toronto.
by Jennifer Roberts
Jennifer Osmond, from Badger, Newfoundland, currently lives in Clarenville, Newfoundland, where she is raising her three beautiful daughters with her husband of nearly 12 years. When she learned about a writing contest involving birth stories, she knew exactly what story she could contribute. The pregnancy with her second child highlights the challenges of smalltown hospitals where there are only a handful of OBGYN’s on staff. After hours is a whole other ballgame to be won.
by Lisa Brenner
Lisa lives in Kitchener, Ontario with her partner and three children. She is an Ayurvedic practitioner, a Pre/Postnatal Yoga teacher, Reiki Master, and Doula. She weaves all of these beautiful practices together to provide loving care for birthers and their sweet babes. The immediate postpartum period has her heart! You can connect with her on all social networks as Wise Roots Therapies.
by Aly Guildford
Aly has settled in Huntsville Ontario. She met her husband in high school and they have been together ever since. They currently have two children, a son born in 2016 and a daughter born in 2019. Aly is a Registered Early Childhood Educator and uses her knowledge on a daily basis. She enjoys reading and writing, and so she was thrilled to contribute a meaningful story about such a precious event. Midwives attended both her births and their support was out of this world. She believes everyone could benefit from having a midwife and/or a doula!
by Jessica Cheyne
Jessica is the owner of Soothe Doula Services. What motivated her to start it was hearing the stories of many birthing people and their journeys, many of them negative and trying. She knew there was a way to help curve the fear that came along with labour and delivery. Having three difficult labours and births herself, she felt it was time to educate not only herself, but also others on how to have a birth that they would be happy to share and remember.
Jessica lives in Woodstock, Ontario. She is also the owner of Jarful Refillery. You can follow her @jarfulrefillery.
