Author Archive: Deepa Upadhyaya
Deepa is an Indian born, US raised and US trained nurse and midwife.
She met her Irish husband in Afghanistan while volunteering as a midwife with MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres = Doctors without Borders). She and her family (husband and 2 young daughters) recently moved to the Comox Valley from the west coast of Scotland.
Birth Stories – Pushing 40 and Pregnant
Editor’s Note: Happy Friday. Deepa Upadhyaya is on site this morning with a birth story reflecting on how women who start their families a bit later in life cope with those stigmas, its challenges and its incredible joys. Here she is: Even though it is worded in a politically correct way, the term “advanced maternal [...]
Birth Stories – The Parallels Of Birth And Death
Editor’s Note: Good morning. Deepa Upadhyaya is here with a personal look at birth and death and similarities found between the two. As always, a story that will touch your heart and leave you thinking. Enjoy. In nursing school we had to gain experience in all fields of nursing. We tried our hands at obstetrics, orthopedics, pediatrics, [...]
Birth Stories – The Hands Of A Grandmother
Editor’s Note: If you missed out on all the information about Cumberland’s Empire Day celebrations, you can catch it all HERE. Now, here’s Deepa with a moving birth story for all the mamas out there. Enjoy. Sometimes you do things right and sometimes you live with regret for the rest of your life. We all [...]
Birth Stories – Magic Comes in Threes
Editor’s Note: Happy Friday! Deepa is on site with another fabulous birth story from her experience as a midwife. Enjoy. “Does anyone here want to take on triplets?” said the red-headed Sister Midwife of National Maternity Hospital’s Labor Ward in Dublin, Ireland. It was a place where 30 births could happen daily in one of [...]
Birth Stories – Hope In the Presence of Love
Editor’s Note: Happy Friday! Deepa Upadhyaya is back with another birth story. Here she is: “Taniqua*, yo hoochi fat.” You could feel her embarrassment, although her teenage face was too black to show blush. I am sure the touch of her cheeks could have started a fire. The crowd of Taniqua’s so-called friends and family [...]
Bumps – Finding Love In Rural Afghanistan
Editor’s Note: Happy Friday! Deepa is here today with another wonderful birth story from far off Afghanistan, as well as a love story that gave her a sense of home, wherever she may be. Here she is: I was all geared up to write the story of the triplets I helped to deliver vaginally in Ireland, [...]
When Birth Becomes An Inspired Resistance Movement
Editor’s Note: Happy Friday! This morning we have Deepa talking about the incredibly powerful and moving birth story that inspired her to become a midwife. Here she is: They say that a mark of happiness is whether you get any pleasure out of the question, “what do you do?” I often get asked why I became [...]
Birth Stories – Conscientious Observation of Labor
Editor’s Note: Good Morning. Ah, life, how it evolves. Deepa’s column is evolving too. Today, we start the first of many amazing birth stories told through the experiences of Deepa. I’m looking forward to this change of pace, as we are set to launch a whole bunch of goodness around pregnancy and childbirth in early [...]
BUMPS – The Role Of A Father During Labor
Editor’s Note: Happy Thursday! This morning we have Deepa on site discussing the function a father has (or doesn’t have) during child birth. Here she is: Do you know who Dr. Michel Odent is? He is truly a God amongst men in the medical world when it comes to natural childbirth. He is French trained [...]
BUMPS – The Mystery of Being Born In The Caul
Editor’s Note: Happy Friday! This morning we have Deepa Upadhyaya bewitching us with tales of being born in the caul. Here she is: Halloween month is upon us and within me several emotions are brewing. This witch’s cauldron has a heavy ladle for all the chunky matter that comes along with Winter’s upcoming arrival. To me [...]
Push It – The Second Stage of Labor
Editor’s Note: Happy Friday Morning! Through her extensive work as a nurse and a midwife, Deepa Upadhyaya has witnessed many beautiful birth stories. Today she’s discussing the second stage of labor – pushing - plus, the first of many international birth stories. Here she is: For the longest time, whenever I was in the second stage of labor (pushing [...]
Michael Jackson through eyes of Mom
Editor’s Note: Good morning. BUMPS mama Deepa Upadhyaya is here today to take a look back at one of her childhood idols and how his death has effected her perception of parenting. Enjoy: I was a Michael Jackson fan before I was a mom. Ok you probably did not know this about me, but in [...]
Seafood to Avoid During Pregnancy
Editor’s Note: Happy Friday (I am sooooo happy). It’s date night at the 30-day Food Challenge HQ and we are off for an evening of adult conversation and some good food. The Great Escape, Bisque, Locals and Anderton Bistro-Pub are all hosting a great Friday night of local delights. So, make a reservation, round up [...]
Using Anti-Depression Meds in Pregnancy
I know the last few cool days of rain in the Valley are lovely, but the continuous sunshine just seems to be infecting us all with joy. It is the start of the season of moist plums, laughter at the water park, sandy toes, breezy fragrant endless evenings, and picking out corn kernels from your [...]
BUMPS – It's Spring, Time to Nest
The space I have carved out for myself in this house is the spare room. This is where I write. Since my daughters share a room, this one is mine…well kind of. I guess I share the space with the ironing board, the pack-n-play (for our baby guests to snooze), broken and obsolete electronic equipment, [...]
All Maternity Leave Is Not Created Equal
Sometimes I think people who stay in one place for long periods of time are the smartest people I know. There is wisdom to just being happy where you are. I have been bouncing around the world over the past decade and although we are broke and exhausted, there were some advantages. You gain some [...]
Fit Pregnancy is Possible (and fun!)
How are your New Year’s resolutions going? Did you manage to start eating healthy, exercise daily, be good to your family, and meditate all while living in the NOW? We all know how hard it is to keep promises to ourselves. It can be even more difficult to set goals and achieve them while you [...]
Friendship is Key to Managing Stress in Pregnancy
Editor’s Note: I have the most wonderful friends. Seriously, I couldn’t ask for better. They have enormous hearts and are entirely some of the most generous women I have ever known. But, when I need them the most (ah, it’s the Cancer crab in me…or some serious issues, I’m sticking with astrology) in times of [...]
Empowering Birth while C-Section Rates Soar
Editor’s Note: Since Deepa brought the documentary “The Business of Being Born” to my attention, I’ve found myself a bit changed by it all. We tried, very hard, to have as natural a birth as possible with our daughter and ended up with a very medical one that, while I believe necessary due to the [...]
Time-Honoured Motherhood – The Blessing Way
Editor’s Note: It is with a serious dose of excitement that I introduce Deepa Upadhyaya as she debuts her monthly column BUMPS – Birth, Unity, Motherhood, Pregnancy, Stories. When talking pregnancy, there’s so much more than the process. As women it binds us, resonates to our very core, back countless generations and forward so many [...]
