-
author • educator • researcher
-
-
Online Learning
-
-
-
-
Books
-
-
Facebook Page
Instagram
I'm taking an intermission break. I'll be back in May. 😊 💜Another snippet from last month's Collective lesson on big babies: A Cochrane review (Boulvain & Thornton 2023) found that "a policy of labour induction reduced the average birthweight of babies by 178g". That is less than the weight of an iPhone Max Pro."Turning the tide of birth culture will require us to heal our individual and collective wounds and take the risk of exercising our power."❗️Nuance Note: I am referring to physiological birth❗️Antenatal preparation should focus on nurturing a woman's self-trust rather than encouraging her to blindly 'trust birth'.In this month's newsletter, I give in and write about PAPP-A and low dose aspirin so you can stop messaging me about it 🤣 (arriving in inboxes on the 7th of April). Subscribe to my Mailing List for a monthly newsletter featuring evidence-based discussion, musings, rants and discounts on offers. The link is in my bio, or visit my website www.rachelreed.websiteTop Posts
-
Recent Posts
Archived by the National Library of Australia and Partners
Search Results for: placenta
In Defence of the Amniotic Sac
Updated: September 2023 Artificial rupture of membranes (ARM) aka ‘breaking the waters’ is a common birth intervention. However, an ARM should not be carried out without a good understanding of how the amniotic sac and fluid function in labour. Women … Continue reading
Posted in birth, intervention, midwifery practice
Tagged amniotic fluid, amniotic sac, ARM, birth, caul, contractions, heart rate, induction, intervention, syntocinon, waterbirth
227 Comments
Index
Below is a list of all my blog posts in alphabetical order (excluding ‘the’, ‘a’, etc). The posts are updated regularly with new research and resources: An actively managed placental birth might be the best option for most women The … Continue reading
Nuchal Cords: the perfect scapegoat
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 baby, birth, nuchal cord, umbilical cord
337 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
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
The Curse of Meconium Stained Liquor
Updated: July 2023 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 and increasing her chance of having … Continue reading
Posted in baby, birth, intervention, midwifery practice
Tagged amniotic fluid, baby, heart rate, intervention, meconium
205 Comments
Amniotic Fluid Volume: too much, too little, or who knows?
Updated: May 2023 This post is in response to readers asking me to cover the topic of induction for low amniotic fluid volume (AFV). Most of the content is available in textbooks and I have provided references/links for research where … Continue reading
Posted in birth, intervention, pregnancy
Tagged amniotic fluid, ARM, birth, induction, intervention, pregnancy, risk, syntocinon
158 Comments
Birth from the Baby’s Perspective
Picture this… A mother sits holding her newborn son on a postnatal ward during visiting time. One of her visitors reaches forward, grasps the baby by the head and pulls him out of his mothers arms leaving him dangling by … Continue reading
Posted in baby, birth, intervention, midwifery practice
Tagged baby, birth, intervention, pushing
99 Comments
The Assessment of Progress
Links updated: August 2019 This article was written for AIMS Journal (2011, vol. 23, no. 2) and expands on my previous post about my New Years resolution – which by the way I have kept. AIMS have kindly allowed me … Continue reading
Posted in birth, intervention, midwifery practice, publications
Tagged ARM, augmentation, birth, contractions, labour pattern, oxytocin, pushing, syntocinon
99 Comments
Stages of Labour and Collusion
My New Years resolution is to stop colluding in the myth of stages of labour. Will you join me? This may be a little difficult as a midwife and an educator but I’ll give it a go – will you? … Continue reading
Posted in birth, midwifery practice
Tagged birth, documentation, labour pattern, stages of labour
44 Comments
