Dr Rachel Reed
midwife • author • presenter • researcher
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I'm having an intermission for week or two. In the meantime you can contact me via email or my website (link in bio).The audiobook version of Why Induction Matters is now available from Audible and iTunes Books.One of my mottos cross-stitched in cat font. What a perfect gift @drsarawickhamLet's face it, we all have egos and some of us like to be needed. As careproviders we must keep an eye on ourselves and our actions/agendas. A woman's birth is her rite of passage. It is not an opportunity for us to meet the needs of our ego, or worse use for self-promotion.Old black cat was not cooperating with the photoshoot - apologies @drsarawickham.Missing my partner in (thought) crime @midwife.dr.clare. So happy we got to hang out before lockdown and quarantine. Photos = Clare being impressed with my trot-stumble route but unimpressed with my pace. She went for a 'proper run' the next day. + Noosa National Park after I trapped her finger in the car door to slow her down.
Archived by the National Library of Australia and Partners
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Recent Posts
Top Posts
- Amniotic Fluid Volume: too much, too little, or who knows?
- The Anterior Cervical Lip: how to ruin a perfectly good birth
- The Curse of Meconium Stained Liquor
- Post-Dates Induction of Labour: balancing risks
- Gestational Diabetes: beyond the label
- Shoulder Dystocia: the real story
- Big Babies: the risk of care provider fear
- Induction: a step by step guide
- In Celebration of the OP Baby
- Nuchal Cords: the perfect scapegoat
Author Archives: MidwifeThinking
Cord Blood Collection: confessions of a vampire-midwife
Updated: September 2019 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 baby, cord blood, ethics, information giving, law, placenta, stem cells
178 Comments
Asynclitism: a well aligned baby or a tilted head?
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 asynclitism, birth, intervention, labour pattern
124 Comments
Supporting women’s instinctive pushing behaviour during birth
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
Shoulder Dystocia: the real story
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 birth, complication, intervention, positions, risk, shoulder dystocia
196 Comments
Nuchal Cords: the perfect scapegoat
Updated: January 2020 To get this blog going I decided to write about a slight obsession of mine: The fear of, and routine midwifery management of nuchal cords at birth (umbilical cord around the neck). I have written and presented … Continue reading
Posted in baby, birth, intervention, midwifery practice
Tagged baby, birth, nuchal cord, umbilical cord
335 Comments
Vaginal examinations: a symptom of a cervical-centric birth culture
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
Induction: a step by step guide
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 amniotic fluid, birth, induction, information giving, intervention, oxytocin, syntocinon
169 Comments
An actively managed placental birth might be the best option for most women
The birth of the placenta is my least favourite part of the birth process. I know I have ‘issues’ and I’m working on them. Hopefully writing this blog post will be therapeutic as well as informative. I am going to … Continue reading
Posted in birth, intervention
Tagged intervention, oxytocin, pitocin, placenta, syntocinon
294 Comments
The Curse of Meconium Stained Liquor
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 amniotic fluid, baby, heart rate, intervention, meconium
202 Comments
Pushing: leave it to the experts
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 birth, cervical lip, cervix, hypnobirthing, pushing
116 Comments
