Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Birth? Anxiety and fear are BIG topics in midwifery, and today, I’m contemplating what scares women who will give birth to a baby. For most women, it’s The Horror of Birth. Much of this is fear of the unknown. Unfortunately, when women [...]
Do Midwives Tell The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth? Childbirth used to be shrouded in secrecy. Now is the information age: monitors, men, many ‘support’ people – and video cameras – are welcomed into the delivery room, and anyone can watch a live birth on the [...]
Modern Midwifery vs Ancient Midwifery In many hospitals, the line has been drawn; it’s all about the obstetrics vs midwifery, medical care vs midwifery-led care. And then, there’s the relatively new debate within the scope of midwifery practice - that’s right; I’m talking about the far too common [...]
3 Easy Ways To Be A Midwifery Hero! All over South Africa, the rest of the continent and the world, there are women who are terrified of labour and are overwhelmed at the prospect of giving birth. They are bombarded by birth horror stories from other women, while [...]
Why Test Weighing Is Wrong Most women, regardless of age or body type, dread the bathroom scales. What will it reveal? Somehow, we’ve given the scales the power to define us. Our question is why we’re allowing the same thing to be done to newborn babies? Why have [...]
Key Antepartum Haemorrhage (APH) Messages For Midwives Ensure you have the woman’s full history – previous miscarriage, termination or C-section; bleeding in first trimester; suspicion of placenta praevia, abruption or anatomical disorders; if she is in premature labour. If a pregnant woman presents with spotting, but is no [...]
How much do you know about soothing a child’s pain? Pain, much like fever, is not a disease, but a symptom alerting one to an underlying problem. Here’s how health professionals can best advise parents. Causes and types of pain Pain may be caused by many [...]
Message In A Pregnant Digestive System Many of the digestive problems of modern humans, including in pregnancy, can be traced back to non-physiological birth practices, not breastfeeding, and over-filling the stomach from babyhood. That’s why, in order to break this vicious cycle, an expectant mother should take the [...]
Repairing C-section And Premature Birth Harm Notwithstanding the fact that facing up to the many adaptation dilemmas for babies (and their mothers) in the aftermath of C-section and prematurity is important – hence this blog – prevention of both remains the most important strategy for minimising or eradicating the harm left in [...]
Helping Mothers Face Birth Fears Most moms are anxious, even scared, to give birth. Midwives need to understand some important fear factors, if they are to truly help women face their fears. Although birth anxiety is often dismissed as nothing more than fear of the unknown, it will [...]
