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The Birth Witch

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25.01.2022 Cochrane reviewers assessed evidence for 61 different strategies for preventing stillbirth during pregnancy, or infant deaths around the time of birth. High-l...evel evidence for a reduction in fetal loss or infant death was found for only one of these 61 strategies. It was midwife-led models of care. Where midwives were the primary healthcare provider, particularly for lowrisk women, loss of the fetus or infant deaths fell by 16%. That's pretty remarkable. But it's not often discussed or shared. More often, the focus is placed on technologies, or on strategies that will help powerful groups profit or benefit. If those in power were truly committed to reducing stillbirth and neonatal deaths, they would fund, support and promote the one thing that really works: models of midwifery-led care. You can read the full review at https://www.cochrane.org//what-are-most-effective-interven And there's loads more birth information at www.sarawickham.com and in my books, whose topics include induction of labour, vitamin K, birthing your placenta and group B strep. #midwife #midwifery #pregnancy #birth #doula #childbirth #childbirtheducation #birtheducator #birthdecisions #studentmidwife #childbirtheducator #drsarawickham #writersofinstagram #positivebirth #youdoyou #midwifeled #midwifeledcare #midwifeledunit #evidenceinformedmidwifery #cochrane #cochranereview See more

18.01.2022 Your vagina doesn’t want to be poked and prodded as it heals from birth! The way vaginas and vulvas are treated during and after the birthing process by medica...l professionals is absolutely ludicrous. The non-consensual exams, the assisting baby out, the unnecessary placenta grabs, the aggressive suturing, the mandatory 6 week checkup. Miss me with all this utter nonsense. Vaginal tissue heals in YIN. In its own dark and wet nature. If there is an injury (abrasion, tear, bruising etc) from birth, the best thing you can do is REST. Lie down, nourish yourself well and receive emotional and physical support. I’m not saying never get sutures or see a pelvic floor PT, but choose wisely and opt for gentle, skilled touch that prioritizes LISTENING to the tissue over fixing. There is nothing to fix. There may be some unwinding that needs to happen. An emotion that needs to surface or a moment from the past that requires resolution. This happens on the body’s timeline. The vagina holds the truth of its experience in an ineffable way. Approach with reverence, care and the intention to slow down to the speed it requires. Pelvic mapping sessions offer this level of care to heal after birth. Reach out to me if you’re struggling with vulva or vaginal pain after birth. . . . Art by @laura_serradilla #pelvichealth #pelvicmapping #vulvamapping #postpartumhealing #postpartumsexualhealth #postpartumjourney #birth #undisturbedbirth #painfulsex #wombwisdom #vaginalhealth #4thtrimester #vistaca #carlsbadca

17.01.2022 The healthy baby rhetoric is a form of gaslighting invented by industrial obstetrics to justify medicalization, abuse, and their hero complex We gave you a ce...sarean unnecessarily, but you have a healthy baby. We cut your vagina, but you have a healthy baby. We sexually assaulted you when you declined cervical checks, but you have a healthy baby. We forced you to stay in bed, but you have a healthy baby. We forced you to push on your back, but you have a healthy baby. You need to be induced, so you can have a healthy baby. You need to stay attached to monitors, so you can have a healthy baby. Deflecting to the health of the baby to justify actions. And the manipulation has worked. How many times have you heard a woman, when talking about her traumatic birth, be met with well at least you have a healthy baby. Often it is even the woman herself who says, after recounting her trauma, but at least the baby was healthy. Dismissing the abuse by echoing the very words fed to them by the obstetrics system. Stop buying into it. Stop letting the industrial obstetrics system get away with the abuse of women by deflecting to a healthy baby. Stop letting them fuel their hero complex by manipulating women into believing it is impossible to have a healthy baby without a hospital to save them. Sometimes doctors truly save babies. Sometimes they truly save mothers. But most of the time, they cause complications to the birth process with unnecessary interventions, the baby or mother become distressed, and then they rescue them by whatever means they deem necessary. Most medical personnel do this unconsciously because this is just what they have learned. But until we stop justifying and deflecting, we will never get them to question their practice and change. A healthy baby is a blessing, but it isn’t a justification for mistreatment. . - Reposted from @doulalyndsay on IG

14.01.2022 I was definitely not told this when I had an epidural with my first birth. #Repost @birthuprising Were you told that epidurals contain opioids & narcotics?... . According to the American Pregnancy Association, in order to keep the amount of anesthetic in an epidural lower, opioids or narcotics (such as fentanyl) are often added. . This is important information, especially for those in recovery who want to completely avoid this type of medication. . Epidurals can affect the baby by causing a slowed heart rate, "sleepiness" after birth, and trouble breastfeeding (all noted in the package insert). The anesthetic can also be found in the breastmilk of the mother, which has been shown to pass to the baby (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/effect-of-epidurals-on-brea/). . So the same people who just told you to spend 10 months avoiding alcohol, mercury from fish, and most medications are now the ones pushing an epidural and they probably didn’t tell you what was in it. . You deserve to know the risks, benefits & alternatives of all procedures that are proposed to you. It's the only way that you can make the best choice possible in your unique situation. . No matter what you choose during your pregnancy, birth & postpartum, having all of the information presented to you beforehand is crucial. This is the best way to avoid regret & reduce your likelihood for birth trauma. . When I received an epidural during my first birth, I was not informed about its contents. Were you told that epidurals contain opioids & narcotics? #epidural #epiduralbirth #anesthesia #birthchoices #hospitalbirth #informedbirth #informedmama #informedmothers #informedchoice #birthtrauma #obstetricviolence #postpartumptsd #postpartum #postpartumdepression #postpartumdepressionawareness #postpartumanxiety #postpartumanxietyawareness #addiction #addictionawareness #addicted #analgesia #informedisbest #healthybaby See more

14.01.2022 What do you tell women about gestational diabetes testing? Or what have you been told about having this done in pregnancy? Truth is that there is very little e...vidence on how to best screen women to see if they have gestational diabetes and the evidence that does exist is of ‘very low quality’ according to the Cochrane database of systematic reviews. Most hospital policies advocate for universal screening of every woman, regardless of risk or health history - if this is what is happening in your work setting, or if you have been told this is the way to determine if you have diabetes in pregnancy, it’s not evidence based... it’s just something someone decided. Farrar et al 2017 for the Cochrane database of systematic reviews found 7 research trials which included a total of 1420 women and they concluded that ‘the studies in this review do not provide enough evidence to guide clinical practice and health policy regarding identifying women with GDM’... if you aim to work in an evidence based way THIS is exactly what you must inform women of... that there is currently no high quality evidence to direct decision making about screening for gestational diabetes #gestationaldiabetes #evidencebasedpractice #evidencebasedbirth @cochraneorg #privatemidwife #transformativebirthwork See more

13.01.2022 Many of you will already know that there are myriad advantages to leaving the umbilical cord intact, so that the baby can get their full complement of blood. ...This is not cord blood. (No matter what the cord blood banking people want you to believe). This is baby's blood. And nature designed it so that, in the first few minutes after birth, the baby can take the blood it needs. Unless we clamp the cord early and prevent it from doing so. If you'd like to know more about this, there are several good resources around. (I recommend you look for the independent ones, not those sponsored by companies who harvest cord blood.) There are some resources on my website, www.sarawickham.com, and I also wrote about this in a book that I co-authored with Nadine Edwards, "Birthing Your Placenta." Scientific research continues to demonstrate that there are so many good reasons not to interfere with pregnancy and childbirth unless there is a genuine problem which can better be solved with intervention. Find out more and see my information at www.sarawickham.com/BYP #midwife #doula #birtheducator #childbirth #childbirtheducation #childbirtheducator #writersofinstagram #bookstagram #positivebirth #quotes #optimalcordclamping #stemcells #placenta #drsarawickham #delayedcordclamping See more