Verina Henchy Doula

13/10/2024

Thank you for sharing this Charlotte Butterworth-Pool

I just wanted to post to let you all know something you might not have known about cervixes and cervical checks.

And their history.

🛑Cervical exams can’t tell you how well your Labour is progressing, or when you will have your baby.

The vaginal exams and cervical checks that are still done today are based on a graph first created in 1954 by a man called Friedman.

He measured the cervical dilation vs time of women in labour.

The average age of the women Friedman studied was 20; more than 95% of the women were sedated during labour. More than 50% of the women had forceps assisted delivery and around 14% were induced or had their labour augmented with artificial oxytocin.

Does this sound like normal physiological birth?

This is why ‘failure to progress’ and cervical dilation delays should not be a once size fits all, every woman is individual and should be treated as such!

In reality you can take 8 hours to get from 4-6cm then go from 6-10 in an hour.

A Cochrane review (a review at all avaliable research and data) concluded that there isn’t enough evidence to suggest whether routine or selective vaginal exams are better for assessing Labour progress.

I guess what I am trying to say is, take cervical checks with a pinch of salt!

❤️

02/10/2024

BRAND NEW Developing Doulas POSTNATAL ONLY COURSE COMING SOON

Exciting news! Back in 2019, the team at Developing Doulas began working on a specialised Postnatal Doula Preparation Course to complement our full training. Unfortunately, COVID-19 put those plans on hold.

But we're thrilled to announce that, after some time on the shelf, Maddie, Katie and Zara have finally revived the project! Over the last few months, they’ve been refining the three day course, and we’re excited to trial it next year.

THE DD POSTNATAL ONLY COURSE:

We are running the first ever version of this course in February 2025 at Zara’s home in Godalming, Surrey and it will have an introductory price of just £300 (or £200 if you are already a DD)

If you’d like to join us, please express your interest here and follow the link below for more information about the course and to book a chat with lovely Maddie:

https://developingdoulas.co.uk/the-developing-doulas-course/

Stay tuned for more updates as we prepare to roll it out!

The Developing Doulas Birth and Postnatal Doula Preparation course prepares you to work supporting birthing families in the UK. It is complemented by the

28/09/2024

A 16 year study tells us what we already know - Induction leads to poor outcomes. The rub is that induction for “medical reasons” seems to be applied to any birth that carries any type of risk and there is no such thing as a risk free birth. Until we fully acknowledge and address this fact with a more natural approach both as parents and HCPs, risk of litigation will always be the trump card used as a deciding factor for the development of risk management Policies.

Conclusion: IOL for non-medical reasons was associated with higher birth interventions, particularly in primiparous women, and more adverse maternal, neonatal and child outcomes for most variables assessed. The size of effect varied by parity and gestational age, making these important considerations when informing women about the risks and benefits of IOL.

IOL for non-medical reasons was associated with higher birth interventions, particularly in primiparous women, and more adverse maternal, neonatal and child outcomes for most variables assessed. The size of effect varied by parity and gestational age, making these important considerations when infor...

25/09/2024

Mike is trying to fundraiser for a really good cause. Even though he really enjoys swimming, he’s really pushed himself to achieve this goal. Please support him if you can.

This Summer I will be taking on Swim Marathon to help raise funds for the 1 in 10 people who don't have clean water close to home. Clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene should be a normal part

06/08/2024

Are you a Doula in need of a little business coaching? Have you been wanting to do the Doulavation course but couldn't justify the money? Well here's your chance!

The new DD Patreon will have all the course materials on it and you can pay by signing up for just $5 a month, which is about £4.

PLUS you get access to our chat rooms and all the other content I'm putting up in there.

03/08/2024

I’m honoured to have had some of my own doula musings published in this book and I cannot shout loudly enough about the amazing charities that will be supported by the sales. 100% of sales will be used to support breast feeding women. At just £4.99 per copy, it’s a win win!

This short anthology of poetry written by birthworkers is a cornucopia of loveliness! Download it for inspiration and smile in awe at the beauty and wisdom of the written word. We harbour such talent in the birthworld and I wanted to share it! All proceeds from sales are going to my two charities: C...

02/08/2024

Mike is going to swim a half Marathon (21 km) between now and October to raise money for Wateraid. Please sponsor him if you feel able to. ❤️❤️

This Summer I will be taking on Swim Marathon to help raise funds for the 1 in 10 people who don't have clean water close to home. Clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene should be a normal part

28/06/2024

OMG……😭😭😭😭

Andrew Parker, who is canvassing in Clacton, also described Islam as ‘a cult’ and suggested asylum seekers should be shot

23/05/2024

Have you ever been supported by me or another doula? If you have, you will know the true value of having someone by your side at a transformative time in your life. Many women desperately need support due to life circumstances and find themselves unable to pay for a doula. This charity helps to match volunteer doulas with women in need. Please help them to raise some funds to cover the expenses of these doulas - yes, I’m one of them!

Hi my name is Kate Woods and I’m the founder of Doulas Without Borders. DWB is a national volunta… Kate Woods needs your support for Help keep our doors open!

16/05/2024

Sarah focuses on women with a higher BMI in this blog (she is has written a book on many issues for ‘plus size’ women who are pregnant). The issue of setting a 40 week line in the sand for gestation is a problem for ALL women. More than 50% of women are having their pregnancies terminated by induction leading to trauma and long term emotional and physical problems. This HAS TO STOP. Going beyond 40 weeks is perfectly normal and to be expected for the vast number of women irrespective of their age, weight, ethnicity, estimated size of baby, etc etc. The research must be revisited before we have completely lost our ability to spontaneously labour through fear of risk or unnecessarily intervention.

Who is most likely to see a discrepancy between their own due date and that calculated through ultrasound scanning?

30/03/2024

I love that we are at a stage in our lives when we can sometimes call on our children to help us out instead of the other way round (although we are still willing to help them where we are able!).

Thank you Rob Henchy for always helping us when we need you to.

26/03/2024

Morning Everyone!

The next Consent: Rights in Childbirth workshop is coming up on the 30th April at 9am. DDs get a discount, making this 3 hour workshop only £50!

Consent: Rights in Childbirth

This 3 hour zoom workshop is for:

Parents
Doulas
Antenatal/hypnobirthing teachers
Birth activists
Midwives and obstetricians
And others working in the maternity world

We will be talking about our rights to decline maternity care, rights to access services, consent and the law.

We start by clearly explaining the theory so that you have a strong foundation to work from and you know exactly where you and your clients stand.

We go on to explore scenarios around consent for interventions, and we work on practical ways that we can support our clients when they are being coerced or it feels like they have reached a dead end.

You can bring your own stories to share (with the express permission of your clients) and we can work through ways that things might have been able to be done differently. Doulas and other birth workers find that this part of the workshop, this powerful debriefing and reflection, can be absolutely game changing.

Finally, we address the question of responsibility. If someone is coercing someone in the birth room, or acting without consent, how do we work out who is responsible for dealing with the situation?

This workshop is run by 3 very experienced doulas and birth activists, Emma Ashworth, Verina Henchy and Maddie McMahon. Emma is the author of The AIMS Guide to Your Rights in Pregnancy and Birth and co-author of Safety in Childbirth. Formerly the Chair of AIMS, she now works as a birth rights consultant.

Verina has been an AIMS helpline volunteer, AIMS trustee and is an incredible doula with 11 years experience. She is a doula training facilitator within Developing Doulas.

Maddie has been an AIMS helpline volunteer, has been a doula for 21 years, a doula training provider and author of Why Doulas Matter and Why Mothering Matters.

All 3 are on the steering group of the successful March With Midwives Campaign which started in October 2021 which supports midwives during the current staffing crisis.

“Really, really useful content and I know I will use it with every client from now on”

“Really useful to hear about different types of consent and laws around assault. Super helpful signposts for how we can support clients…and helped with blame culture and self care when working in tricky situations”

“Thank you for simplifying the issue of consent as much as possible. I wish I’d had this knowledge years ago.”

“The session was faultless”

“I am so impressed with your ability to open the room’s access to emotion yet still keep time to seamlessly. Hats off to another fantastic workshop, exploring a tricky, complex subject as thoroughly as possible.”

This 3 hour zoom workshop is for: Parents Doulas Antenatal/hypnobirthing teachers Birth activists Midwives and obstetricians And others working in the maternity world We will be talking about our rights to decline maternity care, rights to access services, consent and the law. We start by clearly ex...