Tag Archives: ARM

Post-Dates Induction of Labour: balancing risks

Posted on July 13, 2016 by MidwifeThinking

Updated: August 2019 In Australia 33% of labours are induced (40.5% of first time mothers). The most common reason for induction is to prevent a ‘prolonged pregnancy’. That’s an awful lot of babies outstaying their welcome and requiring eviction. I am … Continue reading →

Posted in baby, birth, intervention | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 263 Comments

The Placenta: essential resuscitation equipment

Posted on April 13, 2016 by MidwifeThinking

Updated: September 2019 The common practice of premature cord clamping has been challenged in recent years due to a greater understanding of how this intervention disrupts the physiology of placental transfusion (Mercer & Skovgaard 2002). Premature cord clamping results in … Continue reading →

Posted in baby, birth, intervention, midwifery practice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 115 Comments

In Defence of the Amniotic Sac

Posted on September 16, 2015 by MidwifeThinking

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 →

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Amniotic Fluid Volume: too much, too little, or who knows?

Posted on August 14, 2013 by MidwifeThinking

Updated: December 2017 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 , , , , , , , | 157 Comments

The Assessment of Progress

Posted on September 14, 2011 by MidwifeThinking

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 , , , , , , , | 95 Comments