First Beat Midwives

20/06/2023

Thought provoking 💕

“All the eggs a woman will ever carry form in her ovaries while she is a four-month-old fetus in the womb of her mother.

This means our cellular life as an egg begins in the womb of our grandmother.

Each of us spent five months in our grandmother's womb, and she in turn formed in the womb of her grandmother.

We vibrate to the rhythm of our mother's blood before she herself is born, and this pulse is the thread of blood that runs all the way back through the grandmothers to the first mother.

15/06/2023

"A woman in birth is at once her most powerful, and her most vulnerable. But any woman who has birthed unhindered understands that we are stronger than we know."

- Marcie Macari

14/05/2023

07/05/2023

When your flight home gets cancelled and nowhere else is open because it’s Sunday and you are working remotely lol 😝

15/01/2023

A Midwife is all of these and so much more!

14/01/2023

My favourite weekend morning routine. Breakfast smoothie and sunshine. What’s yours?
Drop me a message ❤️

11/01/2023

Is there a better place than this to be planning my 2023….um no!!

11/01/2023

Fancy antenatal and postnatal care in the comfort of your own home from the same midwife?
No long waiting times sitting in an antenatal clinic.
Contact First Beat Midwives

06/01/2023

It’s been a pleasure walking beside you supporting you both through your pregnancy to parenthood journey.
I wish you all the best for the future with your gorgeous little cherub ❤️❤️

31/12/2022

I just want to thank all my clients, family and friends for all your support with my business in 2022. I couldn’t have done it without each and every one of you.
Here’s to a great 2023 for all of you xx

13/10/2022

Our bodies are so amazing.

Yep. On average it’s about 5%, and it occurs with each pregnancy 🧠 It’s all thanks to the placenta’s marvellous hormones that a massive remodelling of the maternal brain occurs.

And although it sounds like it’s a ‘loss’ - it’s not. It’s more of an *upgrade* 🙌🏻

I refer to this ’neuro upgrade’ or ’neuro remodelling’ as similar to a iOS software update on your iPhone or Mac. There is tweaking, trimming, shuffling and reforming - but its all for the better!

These all happen in the deep brain structures and actually help set you up for motherhood! These changes are called ‘adaptive maternal behaviours’ i.e the ‘ability to be a mother’.

HOW and WHY… 👇🏻

Throughout pregnancy the placenta serves both the needs of the baby and the needs of the mother. It produces over 200 different types of hormones and its through this ‘endocrine tsunami’ throughout pregnancy that it essentially marinates the mother’s brain in these hormones! 🧠

It’s this very process that allows extra neutrons and receptors to start growing! So, so cool.

Within the brain, between the amygdala (where we process emotions) and the hypothalamus (the HQ for homeostasis control) there are MILLIONs of oxytocin receptors that are installed in a mother’s brain. These last for at least for a few years, and its hypothesised that you get more with each pregnancy! It’s pure priming for birth, bonding and loving! 💕🙌🏻🥰 (+ better or***ms)

These upgrades (neurogenesis) notably affect IQ (yes, we actually do get smarter!), EQ, smell and taste, social reasoning and facial recognition.

They are so profound that a radiologist who is trained in understanding these changes can tell from a MRI who has and who hasn’t been through a full pregnancy, based on these changes seen on a macroscopic level! 💥�
This pregnancy induced neurogenesis is just one part of the powerful transformation that is matrescence.

22/09/2022

SECOND NIGHT SYNDROME

Many new parents are quite caught off guard by night number two with their new baby!

After the first 24 hours of sleepiness and even having to "wake baby to feed," baby seems to wake up and discover that they are ravenous!

All. Night. Long. Feeding, then crying, then feeding then crying! It's easy to become concerned that maybe you're just not producing enough milk and your new baby may very well starve. Cue deep feelings of failure (which are then exacerbated because you're exhausted from the birth process and now not sleeping all night!)

It makes sense if you think about all that baby has been through - the physical exertion of birth and their bodies recovering and adjusting can make them exceptionally tired the first day. But by day two, they wake up and bit and realize that things are SO MUCH DIFFERENT than what they are used to.

They are experiencing a rumbling in their tummy that is quite disturbing. They have new textures on their skin, new noises all around, and the brightness of the lights makes them want to keep their eyes closed. The only thing they recognize is mama. The warmth of her skin makes them feel like they are safe. Home.

Another good reason babies seem to have their "days and nights" mixed up that second day is biological: Prolactin (our milk hormone) is highest when melatonin (our sleep hormone) is highest. And our milk supply is a supply and demand system.

Thus: the more your baby nurses at night, the quicker your milk supply will come in!

So mama, just be prepared. Your little one will need some extra attention on night number two!

Hold them close, lots of skin to skin, nurse as often as they desire, and don't get discouraged! You are doing exactly what you were meant to do! You're doing a great job!

16/09/2022

Love my job!!
midwife and postnatal care in your home

08/09/2022

Contact us at First Beat Midwives for more information on antenatal and postnatal in-home appointments.
Email louise@firstbeatmidwives.com.au 🌼

01/09/2022

📢 Calling all soon-to-be-parents! We are looking for people who are up to 35 weeks pregnant to take part in our Mothers Adopting Midwifery Students Program.

🤰🏽 You will be allocated a midwifery student to support you in your personal journey from pregnancy to after childbirth: https://s.ecu.edu.au/31Y3fyh