Dr Rachel Reed
midwife • author • presenter • researcher
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An OP position is not wrong or a problem. It is not caused by anything the woman does or does not do. Instead, it is a common variation that occurs when a baby gets into the ‘optimal position’ for their journey through their mother’s unique body. After all, the baby has more knowledge about the interior of their mother’s pelvis than we do.Our resident Snoot (or one of a few - I can’t tell)In the 1930's Caldwell-Moloy classified the female pelvis into four types – gynaecoid, anthropoid, platypelloid and android. This nonsense is still taught to care providers and parents. More recently a study by Kuliukas et al. (2015) analysed 64 women's pelvises. They concluded that '…there was no obvious clustering into the four distinct types of pelvis (gynaecoid, anthropoid, android and platypelloid) in the Caldwell-Moloy classification, but rather an amorphous, cloudy continuum of shape variation.'An understanding of physiology should underpin any 'practice' or childbirth education. We need to reclaim birth knowledge rather than reinforce and sustain misconceptions created during the medicalisation of women's bodies. It doesn't matter if the information is transmitted via a diagram or a model (plastic or wooden) - it is incorrect.This happened on Amazon Australia 😁 I don't understand the algorithyms and it doesn't stay there long so I thought I'd better capture it. If you still haven't got your copy see the link in my bio. Also - lovely reviews are always welcome. They do something to the algorithyms apparently and help people find the book.Research, guidelines, policies and law will not change practice until the underlying birth culture and beliefs change.
Archived by the National Library of Australia and Partners
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Recent Posts
Top Posts
- In Celebration of the OP Baby
- The Anterior Cervical Lip: how to ruin a perfectly good birth
- Amniotic Fluid Volume: too much, too little, or who knows?
- Gestational Diabetes: beyond the label
- The Curse of Meconium Stained Liquor
- Big Babies: the risk of care provider fear
- Post-Dates Induction of Labour: balancing risks
- VBAC: making a mountain out of a molehill
- Induction: a step by step guide
- Shoulder Dystocia: the real story
Tag Archives: nuchal cord
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
229 Comments
The Placenta: essential resuscitation equipment
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 ARM, baby, birth, heart rate, intervention, nuchal cord, placenta, resuscitation, syntocinon, umbilical cord
115 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
