Birth Articles

Caroline Flint is a UK midwife with nearly 50 years of experience, an author, and a birth educator. We tapped into her accumulated wisdom to discover what has improved in maternity care over time - and what hasn’t. Starting with COVID-19, do you think we gained benefits for maternity care from the pandemic? My initial reaction was to say no, we did not. COVID was an excuse for incredibly cold and unkind care and for partners being excluded. There

When the COVID-19 pandemic changed maternity care, Perth researcher Dr Zoe Bradfield and colleagues surveyed more than 3,000 Australian women about how it affected them. They reveal what women said about the impact of pandemic maternity care on women and babies – both positive and negative. Do you think there's been enough research and consideration by health authorities of the psychological impacts of COVID mitigation strategies during pregnancy and birth? In addition, what is the effect on rates of

Recognising that birth is more than a medical event, midwife and researcher Dr Rachel Reed literally wrote the book on 'Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage'. We talked with her about getting the best birth experience in any situation – including choosing the right care providers and using evidence to make decisions. What's one of your favourite examples of a common childbirth practice with little evidence behind it? A vaginal examination is one of the key ones. It's

So, you want to know how long your length of stay in hospital after giving birth in Australia is? Well, the short answer is - it depends! It depends on a variety of factors. For example, is it a public or private hospital? What sort of birth will you have? Your health. These and other factors will tell you how soon you can go home. A downward trend Statistics show that the length of stay in hospital after giving

We’ve been voting for decades, and more women enrol in medicine and law than men. Yet birth is one area where power imbalances continue. To address that, journalist Milli Hill wrote “Give birth like a feminist”. We asked her about some of her key messages for mothers wanting an empowered birth. What's the number one message you hope people take away from your book? That women have rights and bodily autonomy in childbirth – that they have a voice,

Using the BRAIN decision making tool can help you navigate pregnancy and birth decisions. Which tests and procedures do you want? What should your birth plan look like? These are opportunities to make proactive choices for yourself and baby. Sometimes a course of action is presented as a given, but you still have a choice. RANZCOG is  the college that trains and accredits obstetricians. Most importantly they state that women have the right to make informed choices in pregnancy

Finding ways of inducing labour naturally has never been more imperative. Medical induction of labour has been increasing since the 1980s. Nowadays over 25% of women have their labours induced and a further 19.2% will have their labours sped up by artificial means (Australian Mothers and Babies 2009). Common methods used are sweeping of the membranes, rupturing of the membranes (breaking the waters), using labour-inducing drugs administrated as a gel on the cervix, or intravenously. Benefits of induction may

Pushed by Jennifer Block's Book Review Jennifer Block seems at first to be an unlikely person to write an expose on maternity care in the USA; after all she was the former editor of Ms Magazine. It soon becomes obvious that she is masterful at her craft and is the right woman for the job. This is not just another collection of statistics and complaints; it is a jolt up your spine. Pushed by Jennifer Block is a voyage

Much of our pre-existing knowledge about birth comes from the stories we have been exposed to from the time we were children. Sadly, these stories are rarely positive birth stories. Women are often told horror stories about birth as soon as they become pregnant, if not before. The new Australian book, Birth Journeys: positive birth stories to encourage and inspire, shares honest, uplifting and reassuring birth stories, giving women a realistic and healthy view of birth. The aim of Birth Journeys

A birth plan is a way of communicating your wishes to those who will care for you during labour. It helps you to think about the kind of labour and birth you would like to have, and what you particularly want to avoid. A birth plan most importantly, enables you to communicate your wishes clearly to your care providers. But like a lot of things in life, birth doesn’t always go to plan. There is a lot you are

July 26th 2012 - Australian study shows the continuity of midwifery care reduces caesarean section rates during childbirth, increases satisfaction with birth for women and leads to better health outcomes for babies. An Australian first, and the world’s largest randomised controlled trial of ‘one to one’, or ‘caseload midwifery’, was published today in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The study was led by Associate Professor Helen McLachlan from the La Trobe University and undertaken at the Royal