Clinical guidelines recommend that women should be guided by their own pushing urges during birth (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2014). However, directing women’s pushing behaviour has become a cultural norm within maternity care. Women are still told when to push, when not to push and how to push.
This article was published in The Practicing Midwife Journal in June 2015 along with ‘practice challenge’ questions for midwives (not included here).
Dear Mama –
I actually hope you don’t remember my name. I was your midwife and I’ve always thought that, if I did my job well, then you would only remember how amazing YOU were when it was time to birth your baby
Birth is hard work and I hate how our culture presents it as a nice, tidy little inconvenience.
But you went against that cultural norm and chose to birth your baby with the help of a midwife, with all of the pain, bodily fluids, doubt, and triumph that come along with choosing that path.
While medical literature has pointed to potential health benefits of circumcision, including the prevention of urinary tract infections and some sexually transmitted infections, the benefits generally don't outweigh the risks, the society said.
Do you ever stop to wonder what is in those seemingly harmless vaccines that doctors routinely shoot up your children with within their first years of life? Have you ever stopped to wonder what that clear liquid contains or how it could possibly contribute to your child’s future health problems? Do you ever wonder why the government is making it increasingly mandatory for your children to get vaccinated? Now is the time to get informed about the truth behind these vaccinations.
When Charlotte, fourth in line to the British throne, was born last spring, she dropped into the waiting arms of a midwife. Americans may find it surprising the royal family entrusted the little princess to anyone short of the best medical doctor in the realm. Charlotte’s subjects, however, barely batted an eye. After all, midwives attend most births in England.
British women are generally referred to a midwife as soon as they’re pregnant. In the United States, midwives only attend about 9 percent of births . . . . .
Donald J. Trump
Look what happened to the autism rate from 1983-2008 since one-time massive shots were given to children. This chart was given to me by a parent of two autistic children. I may not be a doctor but I have lots of common sense. Read my previous statements on autism…
Electronic fetal monitoring—which also includes external monitoring, in which an ultrasound transducer is placed on the mother's stomach—is supposed to prevent deaths by alerting the doctor to complications that would require an emergency Cesarean or vacuum extraction. Which sounds logical enough: The more you monitor the baby, the more likely you are to catch problems instantly. But study after study has proven that EFM is not logical at all, as it provides no benefit to most patients and creates more problems than it catches.
A nuchal cord (cord around the neck) is one of many things that mothers-to-be fear about childbirth. The thought of their precious baby being ‘strangled’ by their umbilical cord can cause so much worry. Luckily, unborn babies get nutrients and oxygen via the umbilical cord, not by breathing it in through their nose and mouth, which may eliminate some fear right there. They don’t need their neck to breathe.
The following is ACNM's preliminary statement in response to the recent study, Apgar score of 0 at 5 minutes and neonatal seizures or serious neurologic dysfunction in relation to birth setting to be published in the October American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (AJOG).
This material has been further expanded as Undisturbed Birth Mother Nature's hormonal blueprint for safety, ease and ecstasy.