Informed Birth

31/10/2022

You are strong and your body is ready.

31/10/2022

27/10/2022

ONE - work on your mindset. STOP watching programmes like 1 born every minute & delivering babies. They are complete s**t shows, highly edited to make dramatic TV viewing. Stop listening to peoples negative horror stories & start watching empowering birth videos, listening to encouraging podcasts etc

TWO - find yourself a GOOD antenatal course & grab yourself a spot. Work out if you want to work in a group or 1-2-1. Check out what you are booking, what the course involves, what’s the aim, is it to make friends or truly prepare you? Who is teaching you & do their values align with you? The Lemon Tree course is a full antenatal programme including hypnobirthing

THREE - support! Think about who you want supporting you? Who fills your cup emotionally, makes you feel safe, loved & supported? You want the hormone oxytocin to be flowing in abundance. If that’s not your partner that’s ok, who else? Also what about considering the support of a doula? Who could support you AND your partner/family to walk alongside you?

FOUR - visualise your birth. Immerse yourself in it. What do YOU want? What do you want to avoid? Start prepping like you would for any other important time or event in your life. Follow Insta accounts such as

FIVE- nurture your mind & nourish your body. Move, even if it’s just stretching & walking, if you can do more then great. Think about your posture, keep active, breathing, using relaxation & looking after yourself physically. See a cranial therapist, book the massage, enjoy reflexology. Nourish your body, think about everything you are eating & drinking. Keep your gut balanced & your immune system strong

27/10/2022

“I believe in my power to birth my baby!”

24/10/2022

Hang in there!

21/10/2022

"The guesstimated due date calculation leads to grief and anguish for so many people.

Like many aspects of maternity care, it is not built upon a solid foundation of evidence and can be challenged in many ways."

This quote is from a blog post on sarawickham.com, and I also wrote about this in In Your Own Time.

Fixed due dates cause huge problems for women and families, for many reasons.

If you’d like to know more, my blog post is at https://www.sarawickham.com/articles-2/fixed-point-due-dates-and-wider-windows-part-1/

And if you'd like to get more informed so that you can better understand the evidence and the issues and make the decisions that are right for you, have a look at my books while you're there :)

12/10/2022

09/10/2022

“I am strong and resilient and listening to what my body needs.”

03/10/2022

Repost from
“We are so perfectly built!
This kite shaped area is called rhombus of Michaelis. If you're going to have a vaginal birth you need to allow the rhombus of Michaelis to move backwards to give
the baby the maximum amount of space to turn his shoulders in. Although the rhombus appears high in the pelvis and the lower lumbar spine when it moves backwards, it has the effect of opening the outlet as
well
Moving freely in birth helps the baby rotate down the pelvis. Try to follow your body's clues!”
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It’s always a lovely sign that everything is progressing beautifully as a doula when I see this. The body is so incredible how it adapts and accommodates birthing. On my course we explore movement, positions & tools to support birthing unfold more easily & comfortably. Movement is such an amazing tool. Dancing, swaying, rocking, alongside listening to your favourite music or relaxations to build that oxytocin
www.thelemontreebirth.co.uk
✨

03/10/2022

It's your journey, and you can always say no.

In recent times (and sadly still in some places and situations), i️f you decide to enter a facility to give birth, you might not be able to have companions of your choice with you at all times.

That's also often the case if you decide to have your labour induced.

Or you might be told that, because you have a risk factor (maybe your size, age, GBS status or blood sugar), your options in a particular facility are limited.

But don't forget that you don't have to enter a facility until/unless you want to.

And even if some of your decisions are affected by what local facilities offer, you still retain the right to make decisions about your own body.

If you go into a hospital setting (or any other setting) to give birth, you always have the right to decline procedures, tests or medication that you don't want.

It's so important to get informed.

If you'd like to know more, there's loads of information at www.sarawickham.com

You also might like to read my newly updated and expanded book, "What's Right For Me? Making decisions in pregnancy and childbirth.

More info on that at www.sarawickham.com/me

It's your journey.

You don't have to agree to anything that isn't right for you.

23/09/2022

Guidelines are a very modern thing, but they exist in many fields, including health and medical care.

They tell professionals what to offer in certain situations - so in that sense they are about standardisation - but it's important to remember that individual recipients of care don't have to follow them.

If offered something, you can always say 'yes', 'no' or, 'actually, I need more time to think about that.'

You don't have to follow the guidelines if they're not right for you.

And guidelines aren't always based on good evidence.

Sometimes the evidence isn’t there, or a very narrow range of evidence is included.

This isn't another excuse to bash clinicians, though.

This is about cultures, belief systems and the idea that standardisation is a good thing.

The variability that we see in guidelines confirms why we should continue to look very closely at what we mean by "evidence" and "evidence-based", and ask questions about what underpins the guidelines, recommendations and rules that are in place.

It also underlines how important it is for everyone to think about what they want, because you may or may not want what's recommended for everyone else.

It's important to think about what's right for you.

To make sure you're informed, not just about the evidence itself, but about the decisions you might need to make. About the context in which maternity care is offered.

Then you can make sure that you have the full picture before making the decisions that are right for you.

I think this sort of knowledge and information is vital for those accessing maternity care today.

That's why I have just updated my book, What’s Right For Me? Making decisions in pregnancy and childbirth.

It has now been helping women and families to understand the issues and learn about tips and tools that can help them make the decisions that are right for them for twenty years.

I hope it can help you too.

Find out more at www.sarawickham.com/me