Journey of Birth - Family Midwife

11/10/2025

As a midwife providing continuity of care we often get little updates…today was a photo of this beautiful baby girl, little Mia, who is now 6 months old and the first baby born at Rockingham Hospital under the new access agreement which provides the option of continuity of care with a known midwife through the pregnancy, birth and postpartum period

So special receiving these updates, it reminds me what a privilege it is travelling these journeys alongside families ❤️

28/09/2025

If you haven’t seen a baby born encaul this little video shows it

Even though it is said to be rare I believe it happens far more frequently then the statistics state. I’ve seen many of these in my time as a midwife and every time it feels so special and I wonder the significance for that child…there are a lot of religious and cultural meaning behind these births so if you are interested google these too!

21/09/2025

👶Did you know this used to be common practice?

For decades, babies were often lifted by their ankles and held upside down immediately after birth.

Sometimes, they were even given a few “spanks” on the bottom 🍑 to stimulate crying.

⚠️ Why did they do this?
• Doctors once believed a newborn needed to cry right away to clear the lungs 🌬️
• Hanging the baby upside down was thought to “drain fluids” from the airways
• Spanking was thought to “jump-start” breathing

💡 What we know now:
• Babies are born already transitioning their lungs to air, no spanking or dangling required 💕
• The safest, most effective place for a newborn to adapt is skin-to-skin on the parent’s chest 🫶
• Crying isn’t the only sign of health…quiet, alert breathing is perfectly normal 🌸

✅ Modern care emphasizes:
🤱 Immediate skin-to-skin
💧 Delayed cord clamping
💤 Allowing the baby to transition gently and naturally

🚫 No hanging, no spanking.

Just trust in physiology and connection 💗

✨ Times change, but photos like this remind us how far birth practices have come and how important it is to keep questioning the “norm.”

-Love,
Badassmotherbirther

21/09/2025

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When the immediate postpartum is undisturbed, the first language spoken is not words. There’s just touch and the quiet symphony of skin against skin.

A baby pressed to the chest, breathing in the familiar scent of home they have always known.

The warmth of their parents’ embrace guides them gently into the world, teaching safety, trust, and love without a single instruction.

Touch, smell, closeness…they are not luxuries.
They are the ancient threads that weave
bonding, regulation, and belonging.

In these first moments, before the world intrudes,
there is only this: the holy exchange of presence.

-Love,
Flor Cruz
/ .like.a.badass

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, & 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭!

21/09/2025

I’ve seen several posts circulating about blue breast milk having more antibodies for baby when mom or baby is sick. It may sound cool, but it’s not actually based on fact. Breastmilk can be many colors, and can have a natural bluish hue caused by the presence of whey protein (which accounts for 50-80% of the protein content in your milk depending on your stage of lactation). This blue hue is usually more visible when the volume of your milk is high and the fat content relatively lower. This can happen for many reasons: You may notice this blueish color more when you’ve has gone a longer time between pumpings, like first thing in the morning, when your breasts are fuller from sleeping longer at night. A blueish tint in expressed breast milk is mainly due to higher whey protein which is seen at the beginning of feeding. As the breast continues to empty, the composition changes to more casein protein, which is higher in fat, giving it that creamier color. It’s a gradual change as the feeding progresses. When using a pump to empty the breast, you may not see the blue color as you’re more fully emptying the breast. Those that use a Haakaa or a milk catcher like a may note a more blue color in the milk they collect as these devices often only catch leaking drip milk, which is a higher water content, lower fat content milk.

Be assured, bluish milk and whiter/yellower milk have the SAME components and are the same milk. There are not two different types or kinds of milk. It’s just the ratio of the various components like water and fat that can change based on how you’re feeding and pumping.

Those who feed their babies frequently or empty their breasts often and more thoroughly tend to not see the bluer milk, but they can when going longer between feeding. Those with an exceptionally robust milk supply or those who go long stretches between feeds may occasionally see a more bluish hue to their milk.

Regardless of the color of your milk, it is the perfect milk to feed your baby.

30/07/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EW6AE5JxV/?mibextid=wwXIfr

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Not everything in birth can be quantified.

You can measure dilation.
You can track contractions.
You can count minutes, centimeters, decibels, and heart tones.

But you can’t measure the courage it takes to surrender.

You can’t chart the power of a mother reclaiming her voice.

You can’t graph the safety of being surrounded by people who trust birth and trust you.

Birth is not just a physiological event.

It’s emotional, ancestral, spiritual, and deeply human.

And no monitor, no metric, no number on a screen will ever fully capture that.

-Love,
Flor Cruz
/ .like.a.badass

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, & 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭!fotografia

30/07/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1HtBYPQj8f/?mibextid=wwXIfr

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

30/07/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1YAnuUH7jb/?mibextid=wwXIfr

19/07/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19M7pXwXYr/?mibextid=wwXIfr

07/03/2025

06/10/2024

This has to be one of he most epic captures of an en caul birth where the baby is still in its intact amniotic sac.

You don’t get to see too many en caul births, I think due mostly to our over medicalisation of birth these days but when you do it’s magical 🧡
Words
📸 nicolecoombsphotography

01/10/2024

"The rhombus of Michaelis (sometimes called the quadrilateral of Michaelis) is a kite-shaped area that includes the three lower lumber vertebrae, the sacrum and that long ligament which reaches down from the base of the scull to the sacrum.

This wedge-shaped area of bone moves backwards during the second stage of labour and as it moves back it pushes the wings of the ilea out, increasing the diameters of the pelvis.

We know it’s happening when the woman’s hands reach upwards (to find something to hold onto, her head goes back and her back arches.” (Wickham and Sutton 2002).

Jean Sutton and I first wrote about the rhombus of Michaelis in 2002.

We weren’t the first to notice it.

Midwives from around the world had been aware of it and discussing it for many years.

Some talked about “the opening of the back,” while others described the shape, and discussed it in the same sentence as they talked about purple lines and cold feet.

That is, the embodied wisdom of birth.

Since we wrote about it, many thousands of midwives and birth workers have learned about this physiological feature of birth from our article and the conversations that it has sparked.

The original article is available on my website.

Yes, it’s one of those named by and for a man, and that’s not OK. But if we change the article title then people won’t be able to find it.

I’m re-sharing the link to the article today in the hope of sharing the information more widely.

You can read it at https://www.sarawickham.com/articles-2/the-rhombus-of-michaelis/

I hope you’ll find it useful.

Yes, please feel free to share and repost this social media post, with the pic, words and credit intact.

Thanks to my friends at for letting me reshare their image