By-Your-Side Midwifery

10/10/2025

My availability over the coming months.
* Continuity of care
* Physiological birth
* Homebirth
* Acuneedling
If any ot these things align with you, please feel free to contact me.

22/09/2025

18/09/2025

"Use the baby as your barometer."

A quote from the brilliant Sara Morris, RM PhD. We were discussing pros & cons of time-based algorithms among a group of BWB instructors.

One algorithm that has been making the rounds in some local hospitals is: 5 minutes from bum to birth, 3 min from umbilicus to birth, 1 minute from shoulders to birth, step in if no progress for 90 seconds.

We at BWB take a different approach: the baby's condition and progress will tell you if you need to intervene, not the clock. Some babies can tolerate several minutes and remain vigorous, while others cannot even tolerate 1 minute.

If baby is vigorous and is making good progress, fantastic! Just wait and watch, as long as fetal condition and progress remain excellent. But if baby is limp, gasping, or making slow progress, or showing any signs of obstruction, then step in right away.

22/08/2025

Dr Hazel Keedle, PhD you have done it again! A read that empowers clinicians to assist women to have a better birth after caesarean, and encourages reflective practice. It has been a page-turner.

22/08/2025

Vale Michel Odent. Many of his books have informed and inspired my practice.

We are saddened to hear news of the passing of Michel Odent, whose vision and writing reshaped the way we understand human birth.

Michel Odent reminded us that birth is not a medical procedure to be controlled, but a primal rythm to be respected. He advocated for home-like maternity units, warm water births, protecting the birthing woman's privacy and honouring her instincts, undisturbed contact between mother and newborn; he was among the first to discuss the importance of the microbiome, and question many of the practices that had (and have) become normalised in overmedicalised maternity systems globally.

Michel Odent's legacy lives on in every dimmed, quiet birthing room, and in every midwife his words and work inspired to join our profession.

Thank you, Michel, for your passion, vision and committment to women and newborns.

Photo: Xavier Caré / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA

19/08/2025

What an insightful and thought-provoking conference. For me, the standout speakers were:
Dr Baashi Kumar-Hazard spoke eloquently about Human Rights in childbirth & the importance of informed consent. 'Women have a right to choose or refuse a treatment option & the right to make decisions about their body and safety.'

Professor Hannah Dahlen posed a question about 'when will we have the converstation about the perceived (not demonstrated by research) lack of safety of home birth for the neonate weighed against the research evidence demonstrating benefits for women (Lower caesarean section birth rate; decreased rates of perineal trauma, instrumental birth, haemorrhage, infection, birth trauma); sustainable low cost option; higher rates of breastfeeding and skin to skin & effects on the neonatal microbiome.

Dr Rixa Freeze shared her expert knowlegde of physiological vaginal breech birth. Sharing with audience her insigths from a recent project reviewing videos of vaginal breech birth.

Dr Marina Weckend spoke about being brave and couragous by making 'acts of resistance overt.'

Dr Athena Hammond introduced us to 'neuroception - a way of describing the function of neural circuits that allow our body to know whether our enviornment is safe or dangerous'. Athena then gave us some practical skills to increase one's sense of safety and connection with others.

Dr Kate Levett and Heidi Williams, via practical demonstration, gave us acupressure skills to add to our toolbox for labour and birth.

Well done, Mel. Thank you.

15/08/2025

By-Your-Side Midwifery is in Sydney for ‘The Convergence of Rebellious Midwives’ conference.

03/08/2025

Home births have doubled in WA in the past five years, but stigma remains, and many women simply can't afford to have one.

23/07/2025

I’m not sure we do need another device.

WA’s new birth tech claims to help—but is it solving the right problem?

27/06/2025

21/06/2025

Wondering if today’s weather will call a baby earthside?

13/03/2025

An amazing example of what is possible!
Low Caesarean section rate
High VBAC rate
15 vaginal breech births

No caption needed