Stand & Deliver Birth & Beyond - Antenatal, Postnatal & Parenting

05/09/2025

Maternal grandmothers are shaping childhoods in ways parents sometimes can’t, and families are taking notice.

05/09/2025

04/09/2025

Your Body Remembers What Your Childhood Nervous System Felt

Researchers revealed a fascinating connection between our childhood experiences and our adult bodies. A new study shows that the patterns and signals formed by the nervous system in early life leave lasting imprints that continue to influence the way our bodies function decades later. These neural “memories” are not just in the brain—they are embedded in muscles, organs, and even immune responses, silently carrying the story of our earliest experiences.

The implications are profound. Childhood stress, trauma, or even nurturing environments can shape how we respond to stress, regulate emotions, and maintain physical health as adults. For instance, early exposure to chronic stress may affect heart rate, digestion, and immune resilience long after the triggering events have passed. Conversely, positive childhood experiences can strengthen neural pathways that support emotional stability, learning, and overall wellbeing.

This research challenges the long-held assumption that our adult bodies are entirely separate from our early experiences. Instead, it highlights a deeply interconnected system where mind and body continuously communicate, reminding us that healing and personal growth may involve more than just addressing the present, it may require understanding and nurturing the echoes of our past.

By recognising that our bodies carry the story of our childhood nervous system, we gain new tools for health, self-awareness, and emotional resilience. Every ache, tension, or reaction may hold a clue about the life we lived and the ways we can shape a healthier future.

04/09/2025

It’s a common after school scene: School bags and pe kits slung over a banister, hung from a door handle or thrown on the floor as children rush in after a busy day.

But did you know that drawstring bags can be a strangulation risk?

Curious toddlers are especially vulnerable because their heads weigh proportionately more than their bodies compared to adults and their muscle control isn’t fully developed, which makes it harder for them to free themselves if they get tangled up.

Plus, their windpipes are smaller and less rigid than those of adults and older children. This means they suffocate far more quickly when their necks are constricted.

So, if you have little ones at home please keep drawstring bags out of their reach.

04/09/2025

A few years back, I was in conversation with a hospital-based midwife colleague about a shared frustration.

We were both so tired of hearing that women who had been told they had gestational diabetes (or GD, which is a debatable label in itself) were also being told they needed induction.

"The problem is," she said, "that some obstetricians tell women they're at high risk because they have GD, and that induction is the solution, but there's no evidence for that. But the lack of studies mean the issues are complex and there's no easy place I can point women to, so they can read more."

I knew just what she meant.

I had written about GD in my Inducing Labour book, but our conversation made me realise that I didn't have a blog post on this topic.

I wrote one that week.

Since I wrote it, my blog post on Induction for gestational diabetes: what's the evidence? has become one of my most popular.

And today I have checked and updated it, to ensure that it stays relevant and useful for the thousands of women, families, midwives and birth workers who visit it every year.

You can read it at https://www.sarawickham.com/articles-2/induction-for-gestational-diabetes/

I hope you'll find it useful.

01/09/2025

01/09/2025

When I was pregnant with my first, someone gave me advice I’ll never forget: when the days feel overwhelming, look at their hands.

Tiny hands that haven’t yet known the weight of the world. Hands that aren’t capable of malice, only reaching for comfort. Hands that remind me that every cry, every tantrum, every sleepless night isn’t meant to break me it’s just them needing me.

Motherhood in these early years is messy, loud, and exhausting… but those tiny hands remind me that I’m their safe place, their whole world. And that perspective softens the hard moments, every time.

01/09/2025