Shimmer Maternity Support Services

31/07/2025

28/07/2025

We know that vocalization in labor and birth can be beneficial. Deep moans vs high pitched. When we relax and loosen the voice we relax and loosen our pelvic floor. Try it.

Artist: Luisa Alexandre ( on IG).

20/07/2025

Watching this warrior woman going to the very limit of her strength and determination to birth her little one safely at home left me in awe of what we are capable of. Baby led us all a merry dance by getting her head into a less than perfect position, making the labour far longer and stressful than it really should have been for a 3rd baby.
But with only the pool for pain relief mama persevered and showed us all her very best self, finally scooping her up out of the water to loving arms. Dad was also a hero, never faltering at her side, being everything she needed to achieve their goal.
The fact that this was my daughter and my 6th grandchild made it even more of an emotional ride.
I love my job with every beat of my heart.
Births like this are what make me believe there is nothing stronger than a labouring woman, and i hope i can continue to support and help this process for a while yet.

17/07/2025

The induction rate in the UK has doubled in the last 20 years.
Yet outcomes haven’t improved.

What does that tell us?

That more intervention doesn’t mean more safety.
That the system’s obsession with control often overrides nature, instinct, and timing.
That too many women are being pulled into birth before their bodies — or their babies — are ready.

Induction isn’t wrong.
But routine induction, without full understanding or informed choice, fractures trust.
In the system.
In birth.
In ourselves.

When birth is treated like a problem to fix, rather than a process to honour, everyone pays the price.

Your body knows the rhythm.
Your baby knows the timing.
You are not a ticking clock.

Learn more with our calm and confident birthing course only £35 - Link in Bio

12/07/2025

Lying down breastfeeding

This can be a game changer for tired parents! It’s also comfy position for mums who’ve had a c-section.

Lie on your side, tummy to tummy with your baby on a flat, firm mattress next to you.

It’s fine to support your head, neck and shoulders with a pillow, just make sure it’s well clear of your baby.

Position your baby so their nose is level to your ni**le, this may well be lower than you’d initially imagine, but don’t forget we need your baby to tip their head back in order to latch, so they need room to be able to do this.

Pull your baby’s body close into you so there are no gaps between them and you.

You may want to use a rolled up towel or muslin to support your baby’s back.

Ensure your baby’s chin is the first part of them to make contact with your breast, watch them tip their head back, and take a big mouthful of both ni**le and breast tissue.

It may be you need to use your freer hand to support or shape your breast to help your baby latch.

It should be comfy for you, and you’ll hopefully be aware of your baby swallowing to reassure you of an effective latch!

If it’s comfortable for you both, you may find you fall asleep like this, if that feels like it may be the case, it’s a good idea to remove any towel or muslin supporting your baby so they can roll away onto their back.

*If you are even remotely considering bed sharing please look into safe sleep practices so you can prepare your sleeping space accordingly*

Don’t forget as with all things breastfeeding this may well take practice to perfect. It can be a good idea to practice in the daytime rather than wait until the middle of the night, when it’s likely noone’s in the right frame of mind to try new things!

11/07/2025

Raise your hand if this is among the top ten questions you get from people considering a non-hospital birth.

Reposted from .labornurse

A nuchal cord is a medical way of saying that baby’s cord is wrapped around their neck. ⁣⁠
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This is something you’ve probably heard about and you may even know someone who had this happen during their birth. ⁣⁠
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❗This isn’t at all surprising because nuchal cords are actually quite common – occurring in a little more than 1 in 3 births!⁣⁠
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And even though the idea of the cord being wrapped around the neck seems very scary, in reality, the chance of any complications is rare. ⁣⁠
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Sometimes we know about nuchal cords ahead of time because they are seen on ultrasound, but in many cases, we don’t know until baby is born.⁣⁠
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👉🏻 The most common complication occurs during labor. ⁣⁠
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Basically, when the cord is wrapped around baby’s neck, it can be compressed during contractions, which in turn reduces the amount of blood (and therefore oxygen) that is getting to baby. ⁣⁠
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Often time, we see a decrease in baby’s heart rate on the fetal monitor, which tells us the cord is being compressed in some way - and many times we can intervene!⁣⁠
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🤔 Did you know that this usually isn’t a cause for complications during birth?⁠

10/07/2025

Hear me out before you eye-roll… this is from the Cochrane database of systematic reviews 2023 paper comparing homebirth to hospital birth.

In the article they explain that homebirth is not the ‘intervention’ that needs researching, in fact the move into hospital birth for all women is the experimental intervention that requires review.

Archie Cochrane awarded ‘the wooden spoon’ to obstetrics in 1989 because ‘the speciality missed its first opportunity in the sixties, when it failed to randomise the confinement of low-risk women at home or hospital… then having filled the emptying beds by getting nearly all pregnant women into hospital, the obstetrician started to introduce a whole series of expensive innovations without any rigorous evaluation’

Don’t shoot me, I’m just the messenger, it’s not my fault that hospital birth became the norm without rigorous evaluation…

I’ll discuss this more on ep.160 of podcast ‘Is homebirth a good option for you’

08/07/2025

This is why I chose to breastfeed through shallow latches, tongue and lip ties and mastitis. Was it easy…. Nope 👎🏽 was it worth it…. Yes 👍🏽
Breastfeeding is absolutely not for everyone and I appreciate that. I’m simply sharing one of the many reasons as to why I felt it was important for me and my family ❤️‍🩹 ###x

05/07/2025

26/06/2025

Never tire of seeing/hearing this 🥰