The Sara Wickham Etsy shop is now restocked and ready for your holiday shopping. Click here to come and see what we have and support our Birth Information Project by buying holiday gifts, or maybe something for yourself. We’re open…
What are the benefits of water for birth? Sara Wickham looks at studies highlighting the advantages of this for women and babies.
A lot has been written over the past few years about the risks posed to women with higher BMI than average. In fact, this has become such a significant issue that I have written a book on this topic. And,…
Dr Sara Wickham is in The Midwives’ Cauldron … podcasts where you can hear Sara talking about In Your Own Time, Anti-D Explained, and Plus Size Pregnancy.
Dr Sara Wickham’s ‘Plus Size Pregnancy’ book is now available! Have you been told that your pregnancy is high risk simply because you have a higher BMI? Have you been advised that you need extra tests and interventions, or that…
Sara Wickham offers a variety of resources for student midwives and others studying birth-related areas.
Sara Wickham offers some useful words for the birth room; a handy phrase which helps prevent women from being coerced…
Dr Sara Wickham shares and unpacks four commonly-seen vitamin K myths, explaining why some information sources have got it wrong.
Our home birth information hub – the latest research on the safety of home birth and links to many of Dr Sara Wickham’s articles and blog posts on this.
This page lists all the resources available from Dr Sara Wickham on the topics of post-term pregnancy and induction of labour.
What do we really mean when we say that someone is ‘at risk of’ or ‘in need of’ something? Not always what those words imply.
Women want more information and support with decision making about induction of labour, especially when there’s no good medical reason for it
The term ‘shared decision making’ implies that the practitioner gets a say in what the person decides, and that’s not quite right…
A book about the Albany Midwifery Practice has been published, and here’s why it’s important…
Another study has shown that receiving pregnancy care from a midwife can reduce the chance of having problems, says Sara Wickham.
Dr Sara Wickham looks at studies exploring the evidence for GBS screening and treatment.
The latest evidence on oxytocin and birth: Dr Sara Wickham looks at recent key studies on this topic.
Happy birthday to Sara Wickham’s Birth Information Update … and here’s the story of how it happened and how it continues…
Sara Wickham and Jean Sutton describe the Rhombus of Michaelis, an area of bone which plays an important role in labour and birth.
Sara Wickham considers issues around the language we use to discuss birth decisions, and highlights nuances in what people are actually asking for.
Sara Wickham shares studies and discussions relating to freebirth or unassisted birth and the women who opt for this.
Dr Sara Wickham explains how the theoretical risk of water embolism came about, and why it’s not a risk at all.
We all know it’s happening We all need to be able to look critically at information. To understand the importance of not taking stories at face value. To know the importance of looking at things more deeply, so we can…
Sara Wickham offers some words of support and advice for the student midwife – aspiring, new or experienced – to take on their journey.
Research looking at the effects of induction of labour shows this is associated with few beneficial outcomes and several adverse outcomes.
A number of features of our modern culture have made making birth-related decisions trickier than ever, says Sara Wickham.
When less may be more. Sara Wickham writes about the human tendency to want to prioritise action and ‘doing more’, when this may not be the best solution.
Sara Wickham describes some of the birth fairies that hide around the labour ward in a fun article originally written for the holiday issue of a journal.
A cautionary holiday tale, by Sara Wickham, about labour ward risk management and how it ruined the day of Rudolph the red-nosed quantity surveyor
What’s the chance of having another PPH, if you’ve had one before? For some women, that’s an important question. Women who have had a previous postpartum haemorrhage (PPH, or excessive bleeding after birth) are often advised to have their future babies…
Have you ever noticed what real women’s cervixes do in labour? How they haven’t read the textbooks? Sara Wickham shares her work on cervical wisdom.
The most important things you need to know before deciding whether or not to have an induction of labour. There are pros and cons and no ‘right’ way.
This is my birthkit purse. It has been all over the world, and has formed the basis of hundreds of conversations. I made it myself, and I use it to show women, families, friends, students and colleagues how little one really…
A study looking at women’s experiences of augmentation of labour has highlighted problems with informed decision making and shown that having a synthetic oxytocin infusion in labour can cause an atypically painful labour and lead to negative birth experiences. Alòs-Pereñíguez…
Get regular, reliable, free monthly email updates on birth-related research and thinking from Sara Wickham.
Sara Wickham highlights the problem of asking people to make a decision about additional intervention during an intimate examination.
Sara Wickham shares her thoughts on birth knowledge, women’s wisdom and what she wishes she could tell everyone about these topics…
Sara Wickham announces the publication of her updated book, What’s Right For Me? Making decisions in pregnancy and childbirth.
If you’ve ever thought that your or someone else’s estimated due date might need a rethink, this article is for you. It’s my reflection, as a midwife and academic researcher, on what I’ve learned from researching pregnancy calculation tools. In…
Been offered induction for big baby? Well, let’s start with a really important fact. Researchers admit that, “it is not clear whether it is better for women with big babies to have their labour induced or to wait for labour…
Sara Wickham notes the rather illogical nature of the recommendations made for induction of labour in older women, citing the lack of good evidence on this.
Is it always good to know things, just because we can? Sara Wickham explores this idea in a series of blog posts about the consequences of knowledge.
Which first-time mums are more at risk of caesarean? There is growing concern about the number of unnecessary caesareans, and the rate of these is especially high in first-time mums. That concern is the reason behind doing the research that…
What are the best questions to ask if you’re offered induction of labour? This is something I get asked a lot. So I have put together this guide to the five best questions that you can ask in order to…
Risk assessment is an integral part of midwifery and medical practice and yet also something we need to think about more. A few years ago, I spent some time reflecting on the issues raised by revised guidelines on venous thromboembolism…
A study was published in the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology entitled ‘Associations between consumption of coffee and caffeinated soft drinks and late stillbirth—Findings from the Midland and North of England stillbirth case-control study’. The media…
New research has added to our knowledge about delaying cord clamping. We know now that it is safe to wait 6 minutes after birth, even when an oxytocic drug is given to assist with the birth of the placenta. Waiting,…
Warning: this blog post may contain tigers. As someone who lives with a serious food allergy, I have noticed some interesting changes in the information given on product labels over time. Over the years, I have thoroughly enjoyed the proliferation…
Our latest information hub gathers together classic articles and blog posts written for and about midwives and midwifery practice by Dr Sara Wickham.
Sara Wickham looks at birth trauma research which highlights the experiences of women and shows how important it is that we look at this area more closely.
Are there good reasons to induce labour? That’s a question often posted when I talk or write about labour induction. It’s an understandable question. I have spent more than twenty years writing about how induction isn’t always beneficial. I’ve often…
How are trends in induction of labour changing? And has the publication of the controversial ARRIVE Trial affected this? Two recent studies have added to our knowledge about the effects of changing guidelines and narratives on trends in induction of…
Which induction book should I read? I’m the author of two books about induction of labour. Inducing Labour: making informed decisions has been popular for nearly twenty years. I frequently update it with new information, so as long as you…
Labour progress resources available on Sara Wickham’s website. Everything from research challenging norms to the purple line!
Is there any evidence of benefit for induction for gestational diabetes? That’s a question I hear a lot. Women who have been told that they have gestational diabetes are often also offered early induction of labour. But is there any…
As a midwife, the labour plateau is a phenomenon with which I am very familiar. I have attended mostly physiological births, and it is common to see labour slowing, pausing or even stalling. There are – to put it in…
I have long been interested in the links between knitting and birth. I have a childhood memory of a midwife once casting off my knitting for me when my mum was busy. A simple act of kindness which cemented my…
