Dr Rachel Reed
midwife • academic • writer • presenter
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For more on 'pushing' during birth see my various blog posts (link in bio) and listen to @themidwivescauldron episode on pushing and cervixes.We need to re-think 'risk management' in maternity care.In keeping with the cicada theme. I found this and it perfectly reflects my current feels. This last week as been epic. I feel like a husk 😆. Just got to find the cicada who emerged and get him to sing. First recovery 😉 #overwhelm #stress #cicada #emergenceJournal article: Women and Birth (in press) - How a perineal care bundle impacts midwifery practice in Australian maternity hospitals: a critical, reflexive, thematic analysis; authors Jyai Allen, Kirsten Small and Nigel Lee (unfortunately the article is not open access - excerpts below)This morning I was crossing the creek (crawling across rocks) and this beauty landed in front of my face and started to drown. I fished him out and we hung out until he had dried off 😍 #cicadasIf you are wondering what all the swearing is about at the end of the latest @themidwivescauldron podcast interview with @birthtimeworld... I revealed my tattoo while Zoe was explaining the significance of the cicada to the Birth Time movie.
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Recent Posts
Top Posts
- The Anterior Cervical Lip: how to ruin a perfectly good birth
- The Curse of Meconium Stained Liquor
- VBAC: making a mountain out of a molehill
- Supporting women's instinctive pushing behaviour during birth
- Amniotic Fluid Volume: too much, too little, or who knows?
- Shoulder Dystocia: the real story
- In Celebration of the OP Baby
- Big Babies: the risk of care provider fear
- Judging Birth
- Perineal Protectors?
Tag Archives: pushing
Understanding and Assessing Labour Progress
Updated: October 2019 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
The Anterior Cervical Lip: how to ruin a perfectly good birth
Updated: December 2020 Here is a scenario I keep hearing over and over: A woman is labouring away and all is good. She begins to push with contractions, and her midwife encourages her to follow her body. After a little … Continue reading
Posted in birth, intervention, midwifery practice
Tagged birth, cervical lip, cervix, occipito-posterior, OP, pushing
439 Comments
Perineal Protectors?
Updated: September 2019 Most women will sustain some damage to their perineum during birth (AIHW 2018). Around 50% will have a tear or graze in the skin and/or vaginal wall (1st / 2nd degree). Occasionally (1% of non-instrumental vaginal births) … Continue reading
Posted in birth, midwifery practice
Tagged birth, episiotomy, perineum, positions, pushing, water
107 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
Pushing: leave it to the experts
Updated: July 2019 A birthing woman is the expert regarding when and how she pushes. Providing directions implies she needs our guidance and we are the experts. Of course each woman and birth situation is different and in some circumstances … Continue reading
Posted in birth, intervention, midwifery practice
Tagged birth, cervical lip, cervix, hypnobirthing, pushing
116 Comments
Listening to Baby During Labour
Updated: January 2018 Intermittent auscultation (IA) is considered to be an important aspect of midwifery care for women during a ‘low risk’ labour. The expectation of surveillance of the baby is reflected in guidelines and hospital policies. The recommended frequency of … Continue reading
Posted in baby, birth, midwifery practice
Tagged auscultation, baby, birth, doppler, heart rate, pinnard, pushing
25 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
95 Comments
