Rosie Soul Doula

15/02/2022

These first few minutes are pure magic ❤️✨

Sniff your baby's head, keep them skin to skin, gaze into the little face you spent so long waiting to see.

Bask in that amazing glow, you did it 💫

Posted • The look of pure love ❤️❤️❤️


・・・
Eye gazing with mama after a long journey into her arms. Peace begins at birth 🤍



*I do not own rights to this songs*

08/02/2022

Some people will tell you about research showing that induction of labour (IOL) decreases the chance of caesarean.

But real world data and many other studies show that induction INCREASES the chance of caesarean.

(Which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have one, if it’s right for you. This is information, not judgement. You do you.)

Lewis et al (2022) just published a retrospective cohort study of 1528 healthy women who were having their first baby. This kind of study shows what happens in the real world, not when you randomise types of care.

“Elective IOL [induction of labour] was not associated with lower cesarean rates in this study. Further research is needed before implementing clinical practice changes that encourage more use of IOL.” Lewis et al (2022). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jmwh.13313

Why do real world data and the results of studies like this show different results to some of the trials?

It's partly because of the approach taken, which we can see in Lewis et al’s study. This included women cared for by the ARRIVE trial approach and the noninterventive Reducing Primary Cesareans approach.

Caesarean isn’t something that happens naturally to some people and not others (like being born with blue or brown eyes or a male or female body). It’s the result of a decision made by a human. Where you have practitioners who feel more comfortable with intervention than with female bodies doing their thing, you see more intervention. It's more about the beliefs of the person recommending surgery than the capability of the mother’s body.

We know from lots of other studies that intervention doesn’t lead to better outcomes, but that’s another story...

If you’d like to better understand the research relating to induction, take a look at my newest book, “In Your Own Time: how western medicine controls the start of labour and why this needs to stop.” www.sarawickham.com/time

07/02/2022

Right before your baby is born, your body gives you a rush of adrenaline, to boost you through the last pushes and make you nice and alert to meet your baby.

Hooray! You did it! You have your baby in your arms and you are basking in the GLORIOUS glow of what you have achieved, gazing down at your new human. Your body is flooded with oxytocin and you are experiencing one of life's most enormous natural highs.

Your adrenaline naturally begins to fall, and oxytocin takes over again to fill you with love and solidify the bond between you and your baby.

BUT

If you feel
- interrupted (people wanting to take a look at any tears, people wanting to check the baby, people wanting to hurry along the delivery of your placenta)
- or disturbed (new people entering the room, the lights being switched on, people talking loudly)
- or hurried (people clock watching the delivery of your placenta)

your adrenaline will remain high, which inhibits the flow of oxytocin. Hopefully you already know that oxytocin helps your uterus to contract while you're in labour. This first helps to thin and dilate your cervix, then helps to push your baby out.

But THEN helps to expel your placenta and shrink your uterus down to stop any bleeding.

Yes, sometimes synthetic oxytocin and active management of the third stage can be necessary. But confusingly, sometimes it can also cause the problems it's trying to solve, much like other birth interventions, by increasing the flow of adrenaline and inhibiting the flow of oxytocin.

So my advice:

Leave well enough alone! All the things that maximise oxytocin during the first and second stages (calm, quiet, dark, loving environment) also work wonders during the third stage, with the added amazing boost of being skin to skin with your baby and hopefully feeding them too.

During the third stage, you are STILL IN LABOUR, so tell your birth attendants to leave well enough alone and let you finish in peace 🙏❤️

04/02/2022

This is great. Dr Sara Wickham bringing the knowledge again. I've lost track of the number of times so-called "big" or "small" babies have arrived and been a perfectly average size.

Posted • Researchers admit that, "it is not clear whether it is better for women with big babies to have their labour induced or to wait for labour to begin naturally."

That's part of the rationale for the Big Baby Trial being carried out in the UK.

And we know ultrasound weight guesses are often wrong. Studies show a 15% margin of error either way.

But what else can we learn from the research? And, given these facts, why ARE many women told they need induction for a 'suspected big baby'?

I researched and wrote about these issues in my most recent book, “In Your Own Time.”

I also discuss the research relating to older and larger women, to longer pregnancies, and to the suggestion last year that Black, Brown, Asian and mixed-race women should be offered early induction of labour.

Nowadays, most women will be offered induction, or find that it is raised as a topic of conversation, and many come under pressure to accept this.

Whether you want to agree to induction or not is up to you. But if you’d like information to help you decide, I have two books and a whole website full of resources to help.

You can find out about big babies (and lots more) in “In Your Own Time”, see www.sarawickham.com/time

For more on induction generally, see www.sarawickham/iol for resources.

01/02/2022

Love this ❤️ so true.
Every minute of your pregnancy you're closer to meeting your baby. Those last days before birth feel the longest, but there are no wasted moments. Your body is magic, it knows what it's doing and you are already on your way 💫

There’s no such thing as false labour. 🤭

Yep, you might find one evening things start niggling, there’s some twinges, you loose your mucous plug, have some tightenings, maybe it even feels like it’s really ramping up! You’re excited! You bounce around on your ball all evening, your partner cancels their plans, you run a bath, watch a funny film, do all the ‘early labour prep’ you’ve been planning! Then you both head to bed- to get some sleep & hopefully wake up ready to call the midwife! The following morning, you wake up.. and nothing! 😫 That evening the cycle repeats.. the following morning NOTHING! Now you’re feeling disheartened, tired, impatient, stressed 😬 it FEELS like ‘false labour’, someone might have even told you it’s ‘false labour’.. but it isn’t ❤️

Allow me to reframe things for you. Every single moment of pregnancy- your baby and your body are preparing for birth. Every single minute that passes is one minute closer to meeting your baby. In the last few days of pregnancy there’s so much going on in there that we can’t see from the outside that needs to happen before your baby is born; just because it’s ‘stopping & starting’ or moving slowly, doesn’t mean your body isn’t doing exactly what it’s supposed to! These early surges might be encouraging your baby to rotate into the right position; they might be helping your baby tuck their chin down & align themselves for birth; they might be moving your baby further down into your pelvis; they might be causing your cervix to soften, draw forwards, shorten, or begin to open.. you’re doing everything right!

So if this is you in a few months time, a few days or maybe even as your read this- you’re already one minute closer to meeting your baby 💪🏻 this is one minute you’ll never do again and SOMETHING in there has changed! Things ARE always moving forward! And it WILL reach a point where the starting doesn’t stop, until you have your gorgeous baby in your arms!

So for now- 📺 Distraction 🧖🏿‍♀️Relaxation 🌬Breathing 🙏🏻 Patience 👶🏼 and trust ❤️ You’re so close. If this was you, what are your best tips for staying positive during this stage?

📸

01/02/2022

💫 TESTIMONIAL TUESDAY 💫

Just finished adding this lovely testimonial to my website.

It's important for birth partners to know that doulas can be an incredible support for them as well, in the weeks leading up to the birth, at the birth itself and in the first weeks with your new baby.

Birth partners often don't know where to place themselves, and doulas can help you feel more connected with your partner as your doula can take care of the practical side of things.

It's also helpful to know that your doula is there to help you make decisions, as this can feel like a lot of pressure for birth partners.

❤️

See the full testimonial on my website: www.rosiesouldoula.co.uk/testimonials
(Link in my bio)

31/01/2022

Writing about 'family-centred caesareans' today (for my Birth Essentials Pack! SO excited to share it with you all!).

Sometimes, it is necessary for your baby to be born by caesarean. If your placenta has grown over the opening of your cervix, or you or your baby have a life-threatening condition.

If you do choose to have a caesarean, there are some ways you can make it a positive, life-affirming experience. Most of these things will be possible in an emergency too.

1) Ask for all but the essential spotlights to be dimmed
2) Bring your own music
3) Ask for your gown to be put on back to front, and for your ECG dots to be placed elsewhere than your chest so you can have immediate skin-to-skin with your baby
4) Use transparent drapes so you can see your baby being born. If this is too much for you, ask for the drapes to be lowered so you can see your baby immediately after birth
5) Demand delayed cord clamping - this is still possible in surgical births!
6) Request that attendants do not chat
7) Use your own pillow from home
8) Ask the midwife to help you initiate breastfeeding in theatre - you will spend the majority of your golden hour still in theatre
9) Ask for a vaginal swab to colonise your baby with your bacteria - studies are showing this bacteria can protect against childhood illnesses such as allergies, asthma and eczema
10) Use hypnobirthing tracks to keep you calm - hypnobirthing is not just for home births!

A common misconception is that doulas are just for home births or vaginal births. A doula can help you prepare for all birth eventualities, can help you advocate for your birth choices and to help you have a positive experience no matter what that looks like for you.

Have you had a caesarean?

What are your tips to help others have a lovely caesarean experience?

29/01/2022

👶 Feeding is not the only way to bond with your baby!

If your partner is breastfeeding, sometimes it can feel like you only have limited access to the baby (after all they do seem to spend a LOT of time boobing in the early weeks!) so it can be hard to see where you fit in!

So here are my TOP 5 ways to bond with your baby that AREN'T feeding.

1. Skin to skin.
Skin to skin contact is a multisensory experience for your baby. They can feel your warmth and hear your heartbeat, replicating their wonderful womb-home. Cortisol responses are also measurably lower in babies when they are held skin to skin so they will be calmer and sleep better and longer. It increases the production of oxytocin in both of you, and if you're a man your testosterone will decrease. This enhances your bonding as you will both feel calm, relaxed and connected.

2. Cuddle your baby.
Who doesn't love a cuddle? And babies are so cuddly! Some of the benefits of the above also apply to clothed cuddling too, so if you're somewhere you can't whip your shirt off, a clothed cuddle will definitely do!

3. Bath your baby.
Bathtime can be a wonderful time for bonding, and if you take ownership of this task I'm sure your partner will be glad of the rest! The warm water and the touch of your hands slows your babies heart rate and, yep, releases oxytocin!

4. Talk or sing to your baby.
Some people can find this hard at first. But the amazing thing is, your baby doesn't care what you're talking about! They will recognise the sound of your voice from the womb and they will find it soothing. If they're awake, sit somewhere comfortable with your feet propped on a stool and your knees slightly raised. Lay your baby facing you on your legs. They will love studying your face and watching you as you interact with them.

5. Baby wearing.
Sometimes we need to get things done. If you carry your baby in a wrap, carrier or sling, the gentle movement combined with your warmth and heartbeat will remind them of the womb, and keeping your baby close will help you feel connected.

What are your favourite ways to feel connected to your baby?

29/01/2022

Let's make fun of the traumatic experiences of many women and birthing people, and reinforce the system that caused that trauma 🤷‍♀️ cool cool cool 🤦‍♀️

Posted • I have seen the trailer for this new BBC series and I just cannot believe that yet again we are going to be witnessing on our TV’s not only what happens in an obstetric unit, but to make things worse, it has been dramatised and made to be comedy!! 😤

Is it funny for women to be made fun of during birth? No!!!!

This program is yet another underhanded way to ensure fear remains top priority within our population when it comes to birth. It will ensure all those birthing people of the future have yet another seed of doubt embedded into their brains and of course will ensure they ‘comply’ with the ever growing obstetric model of care in this country (and worldwide).

I would encourage people not to watch this, give it poor ratings so that another series isn’t commissioned.

How is it acceptable to make a tongue in cheek drama series that is basically taking the p**s out of women going through situations that are traumatising in real life. Oh, and most of those traumatising situations will
Have been caused by nothing more than the system itself!
Reposted

29/01/2022

Love this, informative explanation of why it's best to ❤️

I discuss Optimal Cord Clamping in my Birth Essentials Pack. If you'd like to find out more please visit my website 💫🤰

Posted • ❤️ Touching the cord to check and see if it’s still pulsating can cause the cord to vasoconstrict (closing the vessels before baby has received all of their blood). Instead just . Wait until the cord is white and flacid. Studies show blood can still be passing to baby 5 minutes after birth! This is a biggie for your birth preferences!


・・・
If you watch closely you can actually see the umbilical cord pulsing and transfusing iron and oxygen rich blood from the placenta to the baby.
We love that this is the norm with

Did you know?
Until recently, clinicians believed early clamping of the umbilical cord reduced the risk of hemorrhaging in the mother, but research has not ever been able to confirm that....
What we can confirm is that delaying cord clamping allows more blood to transfer from the placenta to the infant, sometimes increasing baby's blood volume by up to a third. The iron in the blood increases an infants' iron storage, and is essential for healthy brain development.

Have you discussed optimal your cord clamping at birth?