Soul 2 Soul - Tracey Forrester

30/08/2022

A little laugh for you. Have a beautiful day 🥰💝🥰

Do NOT interrupt a woman during the middle of a contraction.

28/08/2022

I am not great at keeping up my social media, but I like to think that in meeting me, I become my own best advertisement for couples. And having that love for self to feel confident in that, is a journey all on it's own 😊💖

25/08/2022

Birth is ecstasy.
It was always meant to be so.
Modern culture has done work to hide that from us, to make us forget.

But we remember.

📷:

• • • • • •

20/08/2022

I became a mum for the second time 6 years ago today. The birth of both my babes sparked something long forgotten in me that changed the course of my life journey in such different ways that I am eternally grateful for. The need to protect my babes by changing/growing to be the best possible version of myself and that role model for them, was so very strong. It started out being for them and throughout the course has turned into being for me. I love the person I am seeing emerging and I love seeing the effect that has had on those around me. This is the sacredness of pregnancy, birthing, postpartum....and beyond!!! However your journey looks, it is sacred 💝💖💝

13/08/2022

Love this, since when does anyone else (we are all human) have rights over your body? NO one has authority over your body! If you want to move around and take off that monitoring, say no to that drug/VE/episiotomy. It is about becoming informed for yourself, knowing your alternatives, knowing your rights. That's what I am here for...get in touch if you would like to discuss your options 😊💖

My new favourite meme 🤣
Thanks Edwina Millson

04/08/2022

Goodmorning💖🙏💖

03/08/2022

Our bodies are so highly intelligent, far more than we even begin to realise 💖🙏

"During pregnancy, some baby cells migrate into the mother's bloodstream and then return to the child. It's called "mother-fetal microchimerism".
For 41 weeks, the cells mix and circulate back and forth, and, after the baby is born, many of these cells remain in the mother’s body, leaving a permanent imprint in the tissues, bones, brain and skin of the baby to mother, and they often remain there for decades.
Every other child a mother has will leave a similar imprint on her body.
Even if a pregnancy doesn’t end, or if you have an abortion, these cells still migrate into the bloodstream.
Research has shown that if a mother’s heart is injured, fetal cells will rush to the injury site, and transform into different types of cells that specialize in repairing the heart.

The child helps the mother repair, while the mother builds the child.

This is often the reason why some diseases fade away during pregnancy.

It's amazing how the mother's body protects the baby at all costs, and the baby protects and rebuilds the mother in return, so they can safely develop and survive.

Let's think about pregnancy cravings for a moment. What did the mother need, that the child make her wish?

The studies also showed the presence of fetal cells in her mother's brain 18 years after birth.
How wonderful is this? "

From an article by Nargis Kizalbash

Art by Enric Huguet (. hugs)

25/07/2022

Breastfeeding support is hugely lacking. Lack of support from both medical and community. We need to build our village during pregnancy to set ourselves up for successful breastfeeding and a more harmonious postpartum period in general. Planning for postpartum should have a much bigger focus and needs to be addressed on all levels.

A recent study found no difference between formula and breastmilk when it came to a child's IQ. Read more about the study.

25/07/2022

Curious about private midwifery care or homebirth?

Join Rhonda & Cath, privately practicing midwives, and very special guests for an information session about their services.

We will be hearing from past clients about their personal journeys with midwifery care and from parents who chose to birth at home. Hear about their reservations, their triumphs and challenges. Ask your questions!

Sunday 14th August 2022 2.30pm at the Railway Health Hub, Geraldton

Free event, but please RSVP for numbers.

08/07/2022

'Natural physiological birth is growing in popularity,' I would like to say that women are realising that birth as we have come to know it, is not sacred and is not fulfilling their needs. And perhaps having some ancestral remembrance of how birth should be 🙏

¿Sabías que antes del 1600 las Mujeres Occidentales daban a luz en cuclillas, sentadas y de pie?
Esto cambió cuando el rey Luis XIV de Francia dispuso que para poder él presenciar el nacimiento de sus hijos, sus mujeres debían dar a luz acostadas.

Aunque esa postura hace más difícil y doloroso el parto, pronto se generalizó, y los médicos franceses tuvieron que inventar los fórceps para evitar algunas de sus consecuencias. En poco tiempo se multiplicaron los instrumentos obstétricos, y se llegó a creer que el parto siempre era una urgencia que exigía atención médica para que fuera sin complicaciones.

Cada vez se populariza más la idea de que la mujer debe guiarse por su propio instinto en lo que se refiere al parto. El número de futuras madres que optan por el parto natural -entendido como aquel parto en el que la intervención externa es la mínima posible- va en aumento.

El obstetra francés Michel Odent, uno de los defensores más notables del parto natural, afirma que la parturienta no debe atenerse a ninguna regla, sino obedecer a su instinto, que la hace experta en dar a luz. Odent daba a sus pacientes entera libertad para proceder como quisiesen, e incluso les permitía sentarse en una tina de agua tibia para aliviar el dolor de las contracciones uterinas. De ahí surgió la idea del parto en agua.

Los conocimientos actuales de fisiología han demostrado que el parto vertical -de pie o en cuclillas- permite que el nacimiento del bebé sea más rápido y menos traumático. Sin embargo no existe una postura universal para dar a luz. En las comunidades más primitivas, las parturientas primerizas se guían por el consejo de mujeres más experimentadas.

06/07/2022

We can be the biggest judge of ourselves and of others. At the end of the day, be kind. I like this though, a good filter to bare in mind 😊💖

Gossiping often carries an element of malicious criticism and judgment of others, and so it also strengthens the ego through the implied but imagined moral superiority that is there whenever you apply a negative judgment to anyone.

~Eckhart Tolle

Here's why you should not GOSSIP:
In Ancient Greece, Socrates had a great reputation of wisdom. One day, someone came to find the great philosopher and said to him:
- Do you know what I just heard about your friend?
- A moment, replied Socrates. Before you tell me, I would like to test you the three sieves.
- The three sieves?
- Yes, continued Socrates. Before telling anything about the others, it's good to take the time to filter what you mean. I call it the test of the three sieves. The first sieve is the TRUTH. Have you checked if what you're going to tell me is true?
- No, I just heard it.
- Very good! So, you don't know if it's true. We continue with the second sieve, that of KINDNESS. What you want to tell me about my friend, is it good?
- Oh, no! On the contrary.
- So, questioned Socrates, you want to tell me bad things about him and you're not even sure they're true? Maybe you can still pass the test of the third sieve, that of UTILITY. Is it useful that I know what you're going to tell me about this friend?
- No, really.
- So, concluded Socrates, what you were going to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor useful. Why, then, did you want to tell me this?
"Gossip is a bad thing. In the beginning it may seem enjoyable and fun, but in the end, it fills our hearts with bitterness and poisons us, too!"
Sacred Dreams

22/06/2022

Some people ask why group B strep screening isn't offered to all pregnant women in the UK.

That question is in the UK news today, as proponents of routine GBS screening complain that hospitals don't want to participate in new research in this area.

But a 2019 review published in the British Medical Journal has already showed that universal antenatal screening for the group B strep bacteria can cause more harm than good.

The reviewers found that universal screening for group B strep "would have led to overtreatment of 138 583 (99.75%) women in labour."

The treatment for having GBS bacteria consists of giving intravenous (by drip) antibiotics during labour.

But very, very few babies would have a problem and the antibiotics have side effects.

Not just for the mums and babies who are exposed to them, but for future mums, babies and families.

Having a drip can also mean that movement is limited and in some areas having GBS bacteria and/or the treatment for this can limit your options.

It's tricky though, because GBS disease can be fatal for a tiny number of babies.

But as with so many things, there's a bigger picture and wider issues to consider. Some babies are more at risk than others, for example.

So this is an area where it's important to weigh up the pros and cons in the light of YOUR individual situation.

If you’d like to know more about group B strep, your options, the wider issues and how to weigh up what's right for you, take a look at www.sarawickham.com/gbse

That page has details of my book on this topic – which helps parents, professionals and others to understand the issues and the evidence relating to the screening and prophylactic measures offered in the hope of preventing early-onset group B strep (EOGBS) disease.

It also contains a link to my information hub, where you can read about this study and many others.

*xplained

06/06/2022

In 2021, another study confirmed that induction is associated with more interventions and adverse outcomes.

"Worryingly, although the induction rate had tripled in some groups in the 16 years spanned by the study, Dahlen et al (2021) found that there had been no reduction in stillbirth.

This is of huge concern, as possible reduction in the chance of stillbirth is the reason often given to support a recommendation of induction, especially when there are no medical indications for induction."

That's a quote from my book, In Your Own Time: how western medicine controls the start of labour and why this needs to stop.

I shared the finding of a group of researchers who, "compared intrapartum interventions and outcomes for mothers, neonates and children up to 16 years, for induction of labour (IOL) versus spontaneous labour onset in uncomplicated term pregnancies with live births." (Dahlen et al 2021).

I discussed this research in a blog post, which you can see at https://www.sarawickham.com/research-updates/induction-adverse-outcomes/ as well as in my book.

As always, it's important to remember that there are pros and cons to everything.

If there are genuine medical reasons for induction, then the benefits can outweigh the risks and possible downsides.

Induction of labour is absolutely the right decision for some women and families, regardless of these risks.

But many people think it is being offered too often at the moment, and that women and families aren't being given enough information about the downsides.

The key is in getting informed, and figuring out what's right for you.

Loads more info at www.sarawickham.com/time

03/06/2022

New research has added to our knowledge that it is better to wait for a while after a baby is born before clamping and cutting the umbilical cord.

We now know that it is safe to wait six minutes after birth, even when an oxytocic drug is given.

Waiting, which is sometimes called optimal or delayed cord clamping, means that the baby has the chance to get all the blood that they need from the placenta before the supply is cut.

We have known for many years that it is better to wait than to interfere, but it is taking a while for things to change in some areas.

This is because, in recent decades, there has been a tendency to interfere with birth.

But a new research study further confirms that there are advantages to waiting.

Winkler et al (2022) carried out a study in Sweden in which they compared the outcomes of 904 mother/baby pairs whose cords were clamped and cut at different times after birth.

These were the key findings:

Research shows that it is safe to wait six minutes before clamping the cord.

(It may be safe to wait longer, and many women choose to do so. But a study can only report what it researched, and six minutes was the average time in this study.)

Waiting longer doesn't increase the chance of phototherapy being needed (for jaundice).

It doesn't matter whether oxytocin is given before or after cord clamping.

I have blogged about this study at https://www.sarawickham.com/research-updates/delaying-cord-clamping/

Winkler A, Isacson M, Gustafsson A et al (2022). Cord clamping beyond 3 minutes: Neonatal short-term outcomes and maternal postpartum hemorrhage. Birth https://doi.org/10.1111/birt.12645

I’ll pop a link in my stories today.

Yes, you can share/repost, with the pic, text and credit intact. Please do not put Sara’s work/words into your own branding.

18/05/2022

One for us ladies, it is OK to embrace all your divine feminine. Men and even some women may judge you for it, only because they don't understand it. But lead by example 💖💖💖

Strong female characters often get associated with stigmatizing labels such as: difficult, rigid, stubborn, too s*xual or frigide, not lady like, cold, castrating and bossy.

Well.
Let me rephrase that for you.
She is not difficult but stands her ground.

She is not rigid, but does not compromise her core values.

She is not stubborn, but refuses to avoid conflict just to make you feel comfortable.

She is not too s*xual, but actually enjoys s*x and she is not frigide but does not enjoy having s*x just for the sake of having s*x.

Above all, she will not be ladylike if she does not feel safe in your company.
And she will be cold if you are too.

And for the castrating or bossy part.
Well, I guess you are just intimidated instead of intrigued.

A woman that challenges your illusions
and projections can be a wondrous invite to embrace your masculinity...
But if you feel threatened by her, you will never taste the honey of her sweetness and the depth of her vulnerability...

- Coby Avgoustakis
Repost: Joey Spadaro

18/05/2022

Unless there is a medical need to schedule in a baby's birth, it is best for baby and for mum to allow baby to come when both mum and bub are ready. Let go of the control (something we have been conditioned to have!) And just allow the magical, sacred process of Birth to take over.

In a world where we rush around and try to fit too much in, a baby’s ‘due date’ has come to be seen by some people as a kind of appointment.

Statistically, only 5% of babies are born on their due date.

That's one in twenty.

Some come earlier, and many healthy babies are born after this.

I sometimes suggest that people plan to do something nice on their baby’s due date; there’s a really high chance that you’ll be free to do it!

But the important thing to remember is that, on the whole, our bodies and our babies’ bodies know what they’re doing.

If you’d like more information about due dates, induction or birth in general, see www.sarawickham.com/iol

Yes, feel free to repost. We just ask that you keep the original pic, words and credit intact and don’t put Sara’s words into your own branding 💜

10/05/2022

08/05/2022

Six months ago today, my newest book was published.

It's called "In Your Own Time: How western medicine controls the start of labour and why this needs to stop."

I had already written one book about induction of labour, but I realised that there was more that people needed to know.

Currently, more than a third of women in the UK have their labour induced, but the evidence for this is questionable.

Like the fact that there are numerous benefits to going into labour spontaneously.

That the evidence doesn’t show what some obstetric organisations claim it does.

That there’s also an important history here.

And I do mean “his” story, for the roots of the current situation lie in the patriarchal approach that our culture and western medicine has taken towards birth for the past two or three hundred years.

And whatever the guidelines say, we know that induction is being offered for reasons that aren’t evidence-based.

Women and families need to know what the evidence really says about induction for suspected big babies, and for women who are older or larger than average.

And we needed more understanding of why induction isn’t the answer to the higher perinatal mortality rates experienced by Black, Brown, Asian and mixed-race women, babies and families.

This information needed sharing, and that’s what I did in this book.

I was overwhelmed by the way it was received, and it soon became the most successful book I had ever written.

Thank you for caring about these issues as much as I do 💜

You can find out more at www.sarawickham.com/time