07/11/2025
“It doesn't matter how many pinging machines we bring into the room, how many research studies we do or how many specially-trained people are standing around.
They will never be able to prevent every problem.
What they will do, however, is to continue to undermine women's knowledge, prevent the flow of the hormones that make birth happen (and generally happen pretty well) and perhaps cause problems that wouldn't have happened if we had left well alone.”
That’s a quote from my book, ‘What’s Right For Me? Making decisions in pregnancy and childbirth.’
It also summarises my experience after studying birth-related research for more than three decades.
Sure, some people will come along and tell you otherwise.
Some will try and tell you that your body is faulty.
They might try and make it about your age, weight, and/or the colour of your skin.
Some will use long words and the fact that they have qualifications or have written books to try to persuade you.
Some will try and tell you that I and others like me are mad, bad, or dangerous charlatans.
(If you want to check me out, see my 'about' page).
Others will use their sparkly insta skills and the fact that they are NOT trained to try and convince you that their way is better and that things can never go wrong.
That's not true either.
(One thing I’ve learned about genuine experts over the years is that they don’t tell you they’re an expert. Or, worse, tell you in false humility that, “others say I’m an expert.” They just quietly get on with it, offer balanced information and evidence and let you decide for yourself whether to listen or not.)
If you’ve made it this far, I think we can be confident that you’re fairly good at making decisions, and more than capable of deciding what’s right for you.
If you’d like another source of birth-related information to ponder as you make those decisions, you’ll find loads more info at https://www.sarawickham.com/me
