We have been lying to women for years. Labour doesn't 'start' when we are 3 or 4 or even 5 cms. The birth process started weeks ago, when your body and brain began to change.Waiting for labour to begin can be a time of impatience and discomfort at the best of times, but these days it can be even Continue Reading
Twin Birth – How it CAN Be
A very special, very strong, determined and wonderful client has given me permission to share her story here. After a homebirth first time round, she had implicit faith in her body's ability to grow and birth her babies in a very ordinary, normal way. It took us a while to get our equally trusting, Continue Reading
Why Just One Day?
This post is dedicated to all the amazing doulas I know who 'mother the mother', to every breastfeeding support worker I know and to every single mother I have ever supported - you are all incredible. One day? One day of the year we get. Just one. One day to appreciate, to thank, to hug to our Continue Reading
Why I do what I do: A list
1. Because it all starts in your mum's belly. If you can get a great start there, mum has a positive birth experience and you can be born gently, both of you can start out on your adventure tgether in tip top form.2. Because an optimal start, physically, emotionally and spiritually will pay Continue Reading
Ricki Lake strikes again
Birth and Death
This short film explains why so many women worldwide die in childbirth and what we can do about it. The White Ribbon Alliance are presenting this film at the G8. I happen to think it should include a call for all governments to promote and support exclusive natural term breastfeeding, as this single Continue Reading
Study on continuous support in labour
I've just been made aware of this study: http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab003766.htmlIt makes clear the benefits of having continuous support from another woman in labour who is not a member of the hospital staff. What I find interesting is that the other statistically significant findings are Continue Reading
The Power of Placebo
This Guardian article was interesting, with quite a balanced attitude to harmless interventions such as homeopathy.http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2009/feb/06/homeopathy-homeopathic-nhs-placebo-effectI want to read his book, so will review it here when I have. If you've read it, please Continue Reading
Do We Need Antibiotics for Premature Rupture of Membranes?
Articles The Lancet, Volume 372, Issue 9646, Pages 1310 - 1318, 11 October 2008Editors' note: In 2001, the ORACLE I trial showed that in women with premature rupture of the fetal membranes, but no overt sign of infection, erythromycin and co-amoxiclav prolonged pregnancy and erythromycin also Continue Reading
Fathers’ Home Birth Handbook
This book has just been published and I think it is so well written and will fill a much-needed void in the information available for Fathers. It is written by the lovely Leah Hazard, a doula colleague of mine and I'm proud to say that a couple of the fathers who tell their stories are the husbands Continue Reading