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Link to blog page in bio and full blog post: https://midwifethinking.com/2016/01/13/perineal-protectors/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'.Top Posts
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Archived by the National Library of Australia and Partners
Tag Archives: contractions
Understanding and Assessing Labour Progress
Updated: April 2023 I have previously written about how the current framework for understanding and assessing labour progress is inaccurate, not supported by evidence, and fails to incorporate women’s experience of birth. This post is in response to readers asking … Continue reading
Posted in birth, midwifery practice
Tagged birth, contractions, labour pattern, oxytocin, pushing
15 Comments
Pre-labour Rupture of Membranes: impatience and risk
Updated: July 2019 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 … Continue reading
Posted in baby, birth, intervention, midwifery practice, pregnancy
Tagged amniotic fluid, amniotic sac, augmentation, baby, birth, contractions, induction, nuchal cord, oxytocin, prelabour rupture of membrances, risk, syntocinon, waterbirth
232 Comments
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
Feel the Fear and Birth Anyway
This is just a little post to ease me back into the blogging world (thesis finally submitted). As usual, the content is in response to a reoccurring issue and discussions with mothers and midwives. And I welcome your experiences and comments … Continue reading
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
The Effective Labour Contraction
Updated: February 2022 One of my failings as a midwife is my inability to assess the strength and effectiveness of a uterine contraction. This presents a problem in the hospital setting as midwives are often asked ‘how strong are her … Continue reading
Posted in birth, midwifery practice
Tagged contractions, heart rate, induction, labour pattern, oxytocin, pitocin, syntocinon
106 Comments