Author Archives: MidwifeThinking

About MidwifeThinking

Midwife • Doctor of Philosophy • Author • Presenter • Researcher

Cord Blood Collection: confessions of a vampire-midwife

Posted on September 16, 2015 by MidwifeThinking

Updated: February 2022 When I was a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed student midwife, I was awarded with a certificate and a box of chocolates. My achievement was collecting the most ‘cord’ blood in the hospital. At that time, the Local Health … Continue reading →

Posted in baby, birth, intervention, law | Tagged , , , , , , | 178 Comments

Asynclitism: a well aligned baby or a tilted head?

Posted on September 9, 2015 by MidwifeThinking

Asynclitism is when the baby’s head is moving through the pelvis ‘tipped’ to one side. This is usually diagnosed by a vaginal examination in labour. However, asynclitism is rarely caused by the baby having his/her head tilted to one side … Continue reading →

Posted in birth, midwifery practice | Tagged , , , | 124 Comments

Supporting women’s instinctive pushing behaviour during birth

Posted on September 9, 2015 by MidwifeThinking

This article was published in The Practising Midwife journal in June 2015 along with ‘practice challenge’ questions for midwives (not included here). Introduction Clinical guidelines recommend that women should be guided by their own pushing urges during birth (National Institute for Health … Continue reading →

Posted in birth, midwifery practice | Tagged , | 57 Comments

Shoulder Dystocia: the real story

Posted on May 13, 2015 by MidwifeThinking

Updated: August 2019 There is a lot of unwarranted fear about ‘big babies’ getting stuck. The media reflects the usual story – that women are creating a problem that doctors have to fix. The incidence of shoulder dystocia does increase … Continue reading →

Posted in birth, intervention, midwifery practice | Tagged , , , , , | 196 Comments

Nuchal Cords: the perfect scapegoat

Posted on May 13, 2015 by MidwifeThinking

Updated: April 2022 To get this blog going I decided to write about a slight obsession of mine: The fear of, and routine ‘management’ of nuchal cords at birth (umbilical cord around the neck). I have written and presented about … Continue reading →

Posted in baby, birth, intervention, midwifery practice | Tagged , , , | 335 Comments

Vaginal examinations: a symptom of a cervical-centric birth culture

Posted on May 2, 2015 by MidwifeThinking

Updated: January 2019 This post is about routine vaginal examinations (VE) during physiological birth ie. an uncomplicated birth without any medical intervention. The VE is a useful assessment in some circumstances, but it’s routine use in an attempt to determine … Continue reading →

Posted in birth, midwifery practice | Tagged , , | 116 Comments

Induction: a step by step guide

Posted on March 18, 2015 by MidwifeThinking

Updated: August 2019 This post has been inspired by conversations I’ve had with women about their experiences of induction. Induction of labour is increasingly common, yet women often seem to be very mis-informed about what it involves, or what was … Continue reading →

Posted in birth, intervention | Tagged , , , , , , | 169 Comments

An actively managed placenta may be the best option for most women

Posted on March 11, 2015 by MidwifeThinking

Updated: February 2022 The birth of the placenta is my least favourite part of the birth process. Hopefully writing this blog post will be therapeutic as well as informative. I am going to refrain from referring to the birth of … Continue reading →

Posted in birth, intervention | Tagged , , , , | 298 Comments

The Curse of Meconium Stained Liquor

Posted on January 14, 2015 by MidwifeThinking

When meconium is noticed in amniotic fluid during labour it often initiates a cascade of intervention. A CTG machine will often be strapped onto the woman reducing her ability to move, labour in water, and increasing her chance of having … Continue reading →

Posted in baby, birth, intervention, midwifery practice | Tagged , , , , | 203 Comments

Pushing: leave it to the experts

Posted on April 16, 2014 by MidwifeThinking

Updated: July 2019 A birthing woman is the expert regarding when and how she pushes. Providing directions implies she needs our guidance and we are the experts. Of course each woman and birth situation is different and in some circumstances … Continue reading →

Posted in birth, intervention, midwifery practice | Tagged , , , , | 116 Comments