Category: childbirth
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What Happened To Continuity Of Care?
A small pilot scheme aiming to improve maternity care has been axed. It’s left some pregnant women suddenly without the care they were expecting and wondering where to turn now. It also raises questions for maternity services nationwide. It was announced this week that Neighbourhood Midwives is to close. The group operated an NHS continuity-of-care pilot…
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Comments On Maternal Request Cesareans
A couple of days ago, the charity Birthrights published a report into maternal request cesareans. It found that 75% of UK maternity units were going against NICE guidelines and refusing women this option for giving birth to their babies. The story was covered by TV and online news, including this piece by Rebecca Schiller from…
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Consent
Is it consent if you don’t really want to, but you say ok anyway. Because it doesn’t seem worth the argument, and you don’t want to piss off the person who’s asking? If you make a thought out choice to agree to a big thing, can it be assumed you also consent to something lesser…
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Getting Involved Offline – The National Maternity and Perinatal Audit
I’ve set myself a few challenges for this, my third (and final) round of maternity leave. With my older two children at school and a severely diminished interest in group singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I’m doing things a bit differently. I’ve ditched (most of) the baby groups. Instead, I’ve been looking for opportunities to get…
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The Slightly Sweary Caesarean Recovery Plan
I’ve had three caesarean births. I still wish I had a detailed plan about how to recover from one. If you look for the pros and cons of C-section V vaginal birth, the recovery is always a big deal. Caesarean recoveries are much harder we’re told. But that’s about all we’re told. When I first…
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Caesareans May Be Altering Human Evolution. But Not Much, And I Don’t Care.
According to reports on the BBC (and elsewhere) today, the number of women having C sections is causing our species to evolve bigger heads and / or smaller pelvises and so we are becoming less able to give birth without surgical help. The Miami Herald got particularly upset declaring: “C-Sections Are Increasing Because We’re Messing…
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Silencing Negative Birth Stories
Silencing negative birth stories only helps to create more, robs women of their voice and treats us like delicate snowflakes who can’t be trusted with the truth. Remind me again what century this is? Keep Quiet and Carry On That seemed to be the message on twitter recently, from a senior midwife to women who’ve…
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The Microbiome: Seeding Some Questions
The current next big thing in health news seems to be the Microbiome. According to a growing number of reports it could be involved in everything from Schizophrenia to Obesity. So there has been speculation about where it comes from and if how a baby is born, either vaginally or by C section, could determine…
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Don’t Fear Sunday’s Child – A Look At Today’s Headlines On Weekend Births
If I was pregnant at the moment I suspect I’d find today’s headlines pretty scary. They report that giving birth at the weekend, something most women can not control or predict, puts babies lives at risk. It would be great if we could dismiss this as yet another case of media hype, a rouge press…
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Have Your Say In The NHS Maternity Review
A big review of NHS maternity services is currently underway and those involved are actively seeking out the opinions and experiences of Mums and Dads. This week they launched an online consultation which you can access here: https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/nhs-maternity-review If you or your partner/friend/family member has had a baby with the NHS please please take a…
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