Relax Stretch & Breathe

13/07/2025

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?⁠

13/07/2025

The Benefits of Waiting by Sara Wickham and Nadine Edwards
The need to prove safety can be problematic, because the very ideology that underpins scientific research makes safety very difficult to prove. But in one area of maternity care that has received a lot of attention over the past few years, an increasing volume of research is demonstrating that it is both safe and beneficial to wait. We are referring to the question of optimal cord clamping: being patient before rushing to cut the baby’s umbilical cord, unless there is a problem which necessitates a speedier approach.
https://www.midwiferytoday.com/mt-articles/the-benefits-of-waiting/

11/07/2025

If support is needed contact our SPOC number on 0300 303 0916.

10/07/2025

03/07/2025

Now and again, I hear someone share the idea that a newborn baby who is attached to its cord needs to be held at the level of its placenta so that gravity can assist it to get its full complement of blood from the placenta.

Is there any evidence for this?

No, and in fact there is a bit of evidence to suggest it's not true.

Although, as with many issues, there's a bit of nuance and a need for careful, critical thinking.

And open-mindedness, because we have been interfering with optimal placental blood flow for so long that we need to re-learn what's normal.

Which raises another important issue.

The fact that so many obstetric myths are predicated on the idea that women's and babies' bodies are faulty, incompetent and incapable of self-regulation.

Which also isn't true.

Women's and babies' bodies are highly capable, in the vast majority of situations, of health, healing and self-regulation.

We just need to create an appropriate environment (in every sense of that word) where they can do just that.

And absolutely we need to watch for the situations when things do go wrong, and then respond appropriately. But when we respect physiology, problems aren't the norm.

My blog post today looks at one of these myths: the issue of gravity and placental transfusion.

See it at https://www.sarawickham.com/research-updates/a-revelation-that-every-birth-worker-needs-to-know-about-gravity-and-placental-transfusion/

30/06/2025

🥰😂

22/06/2025

https://www.aims.org.uk/journal/item/gentle-caesarean-birth?fbclid=IwY2xjawLEridleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFhcVZtVHpyZnlsUzFsUkd6AR6zQrPKhN7NTG1T5F4C_EdAA5FJiETK29cxBiqdO03bKYQids4QrhY18spgww_aem_NhYn8lMBiD1L8Aywx-PodQ

Midwife Jenny Smith writes about her work in improving caesarean birth, both physiologically and psychologically, for women and their babies

20/06/2025

A 2024 study looked at maternal and neonatal outcomes in midwife-attended planned home births versus planned hospital births in Spain.

Researchers analysed data from 3,463 low-risk births between 2016 and 2018, including 2,713 hospital and 750 home births.

They found several differences between the groups, which is often the case in this type of study.

“Women choosing home births typically had higher education levels and were predominantly Spanish. They were 3.43 times more likely to have a spontaneous birth and significantly less likely to undergo instrumental births than those in hospitals.

“Home births were associated with higher utilization of non-pharmacological analgesia and a more pronounced tendency to initiate breastfeeding within the first hour post birth. stronger inclination towards breastfeeding.

“Hospital births, conversely, showed higher use of the lithotomy position and epidural analgesia.” (Alcaraz-Vidal et al 2024).

“There were no significant differences in neonatal outcomes between the two groups.” (Alcaraz-Vidal et al 2024).

The researchers conclude that:

“Home births managed by midwives offered better obstetric and neonatal outcomes for low-risk women than hospital births.

"These results suggest home birth as a safe, viable option that promotes natural birthing processes and reduces medical interventions.

"The study supports the integration of midwife-led home birth into public health policies, affirming its benefits for maternal and neonatal health.” (Alcaraz-Vidal et al 2024).

We have added this to the ever-growing list of studies evidencing the safety of home birth on our home birth information hub.

You can find that, and the link to this study, at https://www.sarawickham.com/research-updates/is_home_birth_safe/

You can sign up to get my email updates (in which I share lots more than I post on social media) at https://www.sarawickham.com

19/06/2025

It's hotter in parts of the UK at the mo. It's when aunt maud starts telling you that you should be giving water to your tiny newborn...you don't!