Antenatal Leeds. Hypnobirthing service

08/02/2025

It's sad but true that a lot of what happens in maternity care, even in this day and age, isn't based on good evidence.

Sometimes the evidence is ignored.

Sometimes it doesn't exist.

Sometimes the “evidence” is a biased trial which has so many issues that it’s not a fair representation of the true picture. Or of the actual women and families who need to make decisions.

Sometimes, as with Group B Strep, there is a perception that it isn't going to be possible to collect better evidence as this means ceasing a practice which is widely accepted even though there isn't good evidence to support it.

As I wrote in my book, Group B Strep Explained, the authors of the largest and best-respected medical review in this area discussed this.

“Ideally, the effectiveness of IAP [giving women preventative antibiotics in labour] to reduce neonatal GBS infections should be studied in adequately sized double-blind controlled trials. The opportunity to conduct such trials has likely been lost, as practice guidelines (albeit without good evidence) have been introduced in many jurisdictions.” (Ohlsson & Shah 2014: 1)

How can this be allowed to continue?

It's not OK that women and families should need to inform themselves in order to assess whether what they are being offered and told is correct.

But it is sadly the case that many are being misinformed, or only given one side of the story.

This is why I write books. To help women, families and those who care for them to be able to understand the bigger picture and make the decision that is right for them.

You can find the reference to the review above and loads more information on GBS via my GBS resources page which is linked at https://www.sarawickham.com/gbse/

That page also gives details of my book, Group B Strep Explained, which was written for women and families who want to understand the issues and make the decisions that are right for them.

06/02/2025

Many women are offered a 'stretch and sweep' in late pregnancy. But what is this, why and how is it done, does it work and can you say no?

06/08/2024

Happy world breastfeeding week!
For the tandem BF mamas "Breastfeeding for more than a year and feeding two children in tandem did not adversely affect the quality of breast milk. On the contrary, research indicates that the composition evolves as the duration of lactation increases, which is dictated by the changing needs of children. Studies in the TBM group before and after weaning indicate that the breast milk met the nutritional requirements of both the older and younger child." (free full text)
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/1/277

25/12/2022

Happy Christmas ❤️

25/12/2022

Bless you all. Merry Christmas ❤️

14/12/2022

https://www.sarawickham.com/articles-2/information-about-vitamin-k/

Dr Sara Wickham, author of Vitamin K and the Newborn, shares information about vitamin K. Seven things every parent needs to know before making a decision.

29/11/2022

"Did you know that human babies are the most vulnerable, contact dependent, slowest developing social mammal on the planet?

Compared to other mammals, the human brain is tiny at birth; a mere 25% of its ultimate adult size.

Animals born into hostile environments tend to have larger infant brains to help them survive. Zebras, for example, need to be able to run with the herd just hours after birth – their relatively mature brains help them run and respond when a lion appears.

But, mother nature always has a survival strategy. So, what is the survival strategy for human babies? Easy. Mum and Dad. Without their parents, they couldn’t survive and so much of their behaviour is designed to keep us close most, if not all the time.

So, we need to give babies enormous amounts of love, touch and attention to allow them to thrive, not just survive, both day and night. And we should feel good about it - it’s what we’re instinctively driven to do. Despite what our society may say it’s biologically impossible to spoil a baby with love.

The first 3 years of life represent the most rapid period of brain development in our children’s lifetime. In the first 1000 days of life, a staggering 1M neural connections are made each second. These connections determine what kind of brain your baby grows. A brain that is balanced, stable, and resilient to stress. Or a brain that is unbalanced, over reactive and struggles to cope with stress.

While genetics provides a blueprint for brain development, it’s a child’s environment and their experiences that carry out the construction, forming the essential wiring of the brain. Repeated use of particular pathways strengthens individual connections.

Neural connections in the brain are vital in developing emotional regulation abilities. This is why it’s critical that we provide our children with experiences that contribute to healthy brain development.

So hug your baby, pick them up, hold them, nurture them, be with them.”

words 💛
artwork: 💜

17/10/2022