Dr Rachel Reed
midwife, senior lecturer, writer, presenter and birth nerd-
Archived by the National Library of Australia and Partners
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- Amniotic Fluid Volume: too much, too little, or who knows?
- Vaginal examinations: a symptom of a cervical-centric birth culture
- Nuchal Cords: the perfect scapegoat
- The Effective Labour Contraction
- Induction of Labour: balancing risks
- The Anterior Cervical Lip: how to ruin a perfectly good birth
- Shoulder Dystocia: the real story
- The Curse of Meconium Stained Liquor
- Pre-labour Rupture of Membranes: impatience and risk
- The Assessment of Progress
Tag Archives: amniotic fluid
Pre-labour Rupture of Membranes: impatience and risk
Amniotic sac and fluid play an important role in the labour process and usually remain intact until the end of labour. However, around 10% of women will experience their waters breaking before labour begins. The standard approach to this situation is to induce labour by using prostaglandins … Continue reading
Posted in baby, birth, intervention, midwifery practice
Tagged amniotic fluid, amniotic sac, augmentation, baby, birth, contractions, induction, nuchal cord, oxytocin, prelabour rupture of membrances, risk, syntocinon, waterbirth
218 Comments
In Defence of the Amniotic Sac
Artificial rupture of membranes (ARM) aka ‘breaking the waters’ is a common intervention during birth. However, an ARM should not be carried out without a good understanding of how the amniotic sac and fluid function in labour. Women need to … Continue reading
Posted in birth, intervention, midwifery practice
Tagged amniotic fluid, amniotic sac, ARM, birth, caul, contractions, heart rate, induction, intervention, syntocinon, waterbirth
218 Comments
Induction: a step by step guide
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 done to them … Continue reading
Posted in birth, intervention
Tagged amniotic fluid, birth, induction, information giving, intervention, oxytocin, syntocinon
165 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
186 Comments
Amniotic Fluid Volume: too much, too little, or who knows?
Updated: June 2018 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, in particular Coad and Dunstall 2011 and Beall … Continue reading
Posted in birth, intervention, pregnancy
Tagged amniotic fluid, ARM, birth, induction, intervention, pregnancy, risk, syntocinon
151 Comments
