Connected Journey Doula and Counselling Service

10/09/2023

MidwiferyVolume 126, November 2023, 103806EditorialFinding a way forward for the birth plan and maternal decision making: A discussion paperAuthor links open overlay panelCatherine H Bell a, Hannah G Dahlen b, Deborah Davis a cShow moreShareCitehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2023.103806Get rights an...

06/12/2022

Holy Moly, is this all RANZCOG has to say? Check out this really important research. We need to seriously rethink our maternity system.

“Many women report difficulties in accessing reliable, comprehensive, evidence-based information about the risks and associated outcomes of vaginal birth, instrumental birth and caesarean sections.

“Consequently, there is a risk of decision-making based on poor or minimal information which could contribute to adverse outcomes for both the mother and the baby.”

One in 10 women who gave birth in the past five years say they were made to feel “violated, powerless or dehumanised” by health providers, a study found.

01/09/2022

This demonstrates the importance of not touching the baby during this pivotal moment, too often I see midwives and OBs pulling and interfering with the baby, as we can see women and babies know exactly what they are doing

25/08/2022

Ever wondered about your placenta? Check out this really informative clip

06/08/2022

Wise words

Many birthing women today feel not only abandoned but actively bullied. The answer is midwifery continuity of care

01/08/2022

The history of putting hats on newborns is an interesting read

It’s deeply ingrained, this habit of putting hats on newborns. Search online for images of newborns and almost all of them are togged up in a woolly hat, for all the world like they are about to go outside for a snowball fight. So why do we do it? And why do so many midwives […]

28/07/2022

24/07/2022

21/07/2022

This is a great visual

A complete guide to the options available when planning out your maternity care. The key is understanding your own philosophy and then fitting everything else around your care provider and location choices.

First think about where YOU sit on the medication spectrum and THEN start aligning this with your choices of care provider and location.

The further you slide across the spectrum the more medical your care becomes and the more likely you are to be exposed to unnecessary/routine interventions throughout your care. The further you move along the medicalisation spectrum the closer you are to a hospital and rapid medical attention.

If your dream birth involves early hospital admission, pharmaceutical pain relief, elective induction or caesarean and an extended stay in hospital then you might feel more comfortable with an obstetrician in hospital

if your intention is to have a vaginal birth with as few interventions as possible, midwifery care would be better suited and as far away from a hospital as you feel safe

Once you understand where you sit on the spectrum, choose a care provider and location that also aligns with your personal needs and philosophy. Choosing a care provider and location that doesn’t align with your preferences creates a barrier to you getting what you wanted from your birth. It’s your responsibility to make the choices that create the best opportunity for your needs and desires to be met…

This is a place to start when planning care that will feel most satisfying in the end.

16/07/2022

Yup 😊

There… fixed it.

06/07/2022

Mmm, RANZCOG seems to have missed the point. It isn’t about preparing the woman to be treated with disrespect, coercion and lack of consent and somehow this will prevent their trauma, but to avoid these things in the first place.

"In most systems in most states, women will access antenatal education, which is often run by midwives, and doctors don't often get involved in that education," Dr Khot said.

"So there is an opportunity there, because they don't get to hear from the doctors — they don't get to hear the medical side of how and what might happen in labour."

Ella Porter says she was subjected to treatment against her will while she was giving birth to her son. A new program is aiming to try and lower the rate of birth trauma.

05/05/2022

Shout out to all the amazing midwives on International Midwives Day 💗

26/03/2022

Happy World Doula Week 💗
Attending the annual Doula Conference this year online, such an awesome lineup of birth workers

28/02/2022

Important research

Austrian researchers analysed data from nearly a million pregnancies over more than a decade and discovered that universal screening for gestational diabetes has not led to any significant reduction in stillbirths.

Muin et al (2022) published their findings in the journal Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica.

Their results showed that gestational diabetes screening may be of benefit to women who are deemed to be “at high risk,” although the number needed to screen is very high (880).

But universal screening (that is, screening all pregnant women) is not associated with any significant reduction in stillbirths.

As the researchers discuss, there are other reasons that screening for GDM is offered, and it is always important to weigh up the pros and cons for you as an individual, but this is an important finding.

One reason it’s important to weigh up whether or not to have screening is that gestational diabetes screening and the label that this can lead to carry risks of their own.

For example, more and more women are being told that they have gestational diabetes and then being offered induction of labour as a result. I will be blogging about this issue later this week, so look at for more on that at www.sarawickham.com

So it's always important to get informed about the issues so you can make the decisions that are right for you.

The reference for this study is: Muin DA, Pfeifer B, Helmer H, et al (2022). Universal gestational diabetes screening and antepartum stillbirth rates in Austria—A population-based study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2022: 00: 1– 9. doi: 10.1111/aogs.14334

If you’d like more information, my website offers more than 500 pages of evidence-based birth information.

I also have a range of books which help women and families make the decisions that are right for them.

Find out more at www.sarawickham.com