Bindu's Birth Preparation

03/03/2026

Every spring, we hear from women who are being asked to agree to induction of labour ahead of the Easter/school holidays.

So I wanted to offer a reminder that Easter, like all other festivals and holidays, isn't a medical indication for induction of labour.

Induction of labour has pros and cons and implications, which makes it a big decision that is worth thinking about carefully.

Please get lots of information before you decide what’s right for you and your baby.

When I was writing both my ‘Inducing Labour’ book and ‘In Your Own Time’, I received so many messages from women who wished they had done more research before they made their decision.

Different decisions are right for different people and neither I nor any of the lovely people who will share this post are against induction.

We are FOR everybody making the decision that’s right for them.

Not for the hospital, or the obstetrician, or even the easter bunny.

If you’d like more information, I have a whole page of resources and two books on this topic. You can find details at https://www.sarawickham.com/iol

03/03/2026

02/03/2026

If you’re looking for information on pregnancy and birth-related topics, there’s loads on my website, https://www.sarawickham.com

I have also written books about decision making in pregnancy and birth and on a few specific topics, such as induction of labour, plus size pregnancy, Anti-D, group B Strep, Vitamin K, and the birth of the placenta.

I also want to re-share this important thought.

When it comes to making decisions about things like induction of labour, it’s not that people are trying to persuade women to say no.

I truly don’t mind whether anyone’s labour begins spontaneously or as a result of medical or other induction methods.

As long as that was their decision and they had the information that they needed to make it.

Without being coerced or scared into it.

It’s all about information.

If you have good information, you can then decide whether a particular path is right for you.

As recent research and many of the comments that I receive confirm, many women who have induction and similar interventions during their births later wish that they had been told more about what it had involved and about what it would mean for them and their family.

Some are happy with their decision but others are not.

We need to help more women to get all the information they need to make the decisions that are right for them.

Loads more info at https://www.sarawickham.com where you can also sign up to get my free updates on birth-related research and thinking.

02/03/2026

I didn’t plan on bed sharing.
I planned on sleep schedules.
I planned on the bassinet.
I planned on doing everything “right.”

Then my baby showed up.

And biology said
lol no ❤️

Because here’s the part no one likes to say out loud
babies are not designed to sleep alone
and exhausted parents are not designed to function without rest.

So we did what worked.
We adapted.
We survived.

Cue the opinions.
Cue the horror stories.
Cue the strangers on the internet who sleep eight uninterrupted hours telling you what’s “best.”

Meanwhile
you’re feeding all night
your body is regulating another nervous system
and your baby knows exactly where safety is.

This isn’t laziness.
This isn’t giving up.
This isn’t bad parenting.

This is mammals doing mammal things.

If bed sharing saved your sanity
kept you breastfeeding
or got you through the night without losing your mind
you don’t owe anyone an explanation.

You are not reckless.
You are responsive.

And no
you don’t need permission to do what works in your own bed
with your own baby
in your own life.
Unpopular opinion
but rested parents make better decisions than terrified ones.

Say it louder for the moms doing what they need to do and minding their business 🫶🤱

22/02/2026

Night feeds aren’t random.
They aren’t bad habits.
They aren’t your baby failing sleep.
Breast milk contains more melatonin at night.
Night feeds help protect milk supply.
Your baby wakes because their body expects this.
Nothing is broken.
Not your baby.
Not you. 🤱
If this helped you breathe a little easier,
share it with a mom who’s awake right now.

13/02/2026

Your baby waking at night isn’t broken.
Your baby isn’t behind.
And you didn’t “create bad habits.”
Infant sleep is biologically fragmented.
Newborns don’t have mature circadian rhythms.
Night waking protects milk supply, brain development, and survival.
Calling it a sleep problem is a modern invention.
Biology didn’t get the memo.

13/02/2026

For centuries, artists painted Mary breastfeeding Jesus.

It was called Virgo Lactans
The Nursing Madonna.

Displayed in churches.
Commissioned by patrons.
Preserved in museums.

Breastfeeding wasn’t hidden.
It wasn’t awkward.
It wasn’t controversial.

It was sacred.
Milk symbolized life, devotion, nourishment, and divine care.

Somewhere along the way, society decided this same act
was inappropriate in public spaces.

But if breastfeeding was holy enough to hang on cathedral walls
and protected behind museum glass…
it is normal enough for a bench
a café
or a Target aisle.

The act didn’t change.
Our discomfort did.

If it was sacred then
it’s normal now 🤱

13/02/2026

We’d never expect a new sofa to arrive on the exact delivery date we guessed nine months in advance.

Yet that’s what we do with babies.

The idea of a fixed estimated due date causes a surprising amount of stress, pressure, and unnecessary intervention, and it’s not even based on solid evidence.

In my latest blog post, I explore how we can shift our thinking and embrace a wider window for birth instead of a single “estimated due date.”

You'll find it at https://www.sarawickham.com/articles-2/fixed-point-due-dates-and-wider-windows/