This website is the online home of midwife, author, educator and researcher Dr Sara Wickham.
If you want to be kept up-to-date, we have an email list and free newsletter.
Our Birth Information Update offers a monthly overview of the best of the blog, research study updates, news and a few bits that Sara writes exclusively for our newsletter friends.
And we send regular emails about birth-related research and thinking, along with details of Sara’s books and current projects.
Meet Sara
Dr Sara Wickham PhD, RM, MA, PGCert, BA(Hons) is a midwife, speaker, bestselling author and researcher who works independently. Sara is the Director of the Birth Information Project. She currently spends most of her time writing, but also sometimes undertakes speaking, consultancy projects and advisory activities.
Sara’s career has been varied and includes more than twenty years of experience as a midwife, lecturer and researcher. She is the author/editor of seventeen books and has edited three midwifery journals. Sara has lectured in more than thirty countries. She provides consultancy services for midwifery and health-related organisations around the world.
“Much of what I do draws on my ability to bring together different sources of knowledge, to create and share new ways of seeing and thinking and to inspire others. My work is rooted in a strong academic grounding. It is enhanced by years of wide and varied experience in midwifery practice, education and research, and made diverse and fun because I am by nature creative and enthusiastic.”
What’s here?
- Books. Sara has written a number of books which you can read all about on her Books page. The most recent of these are:
- What’s Right For Me? Making decisions in pregnancy and childbirth.
- In Your Own Time: how western medicine controls the start of labour and why this needs to stop.
- Anti-D Explained.
- Group B Strep Explained.
- Inducing Labour: making informed decisions.
- Birthing Your Placenta.
- Vitamin K and the Newborn.
- 101 tips for planning, writing and surviving your dissertation.
- Live Events. Sara occasionally speaks at workshops, study days and conferences around the world. When she does this, we add them to Sara’s Live Events page. Sara is mostly based in Wiltshire, UK but travels all over the world. Past destinations include Japan, France, Russia, Trinidad, the USA, Denmark, Australia, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Iceland, New Zealand, Germany, Jamaica, and Norway.
- Our Birth Information Update. We have an email list and we send out a monthly Birth Information Update which contains details of the latest birth-related research and thinking. We also send other emails about Sara’s work and our subscribers are always the first to hear about courses, events, new books and Sara’s other projects. Get more info and sign up here.
- Articles and blog posts. Sara shares and discusses all manner of birth-related information, including recent articles, research studies, information and resources, often with additional commentary or discussion. We have a series of information hubs to help you find your way around this website and get the info you need. You may also find it useful to use the search box or click on relevant tags.
Heart-funded, free and ad-free!
You will never find any external adverts or sponsored posts on this site. Sara explains why, and how we manage that:
I have always wanted to be able to share good information without charging for everything that I do or taking sponsorship. Yes, I need to make a living, but I created the Birth Information Project so that I could share good information without having to rely on revenue from advertising or funding from institutions or from pharmaceutical, technology, baby milk, baby product or baby blood harvesting companies.
We launched the Birth Information Project after a successful crowdfunding campaign which involved making and selling hearts and velvet vaginas which we exchanged for donations towards the initial infrastructure of the project.
My husband Chris and I now both donate a day a week of our time to the Birth Information Project and we have so many requests for velvet vaginas and the other craft goodies that Sara makes when she is travelling that we opened a seasonal Etsy shop. We are delighted to report that the software and technical expertise that supports the Birth Information Project continues to be funded by the sale of Sara’s velvet vaginas and other home-made (by Sara) craft items, which we sell at our live events and via our Etsy shop, which opens in the few weeks before Christmas.
Huge thanks to the lovely people who support us and help us keep this going.
But wait! Didn’t you once say you wanted to be a bridge engineer?
Yes, I did.
An older version of this page contained the following paragraph which one of my colleagues felt I should bring back so that you can know a bit more about me:
In my free time, I enjoy travelling, quilting and music – sometimes simultaneously! I am also quite partial to campfires, Thai food, dairy-free chocolate and wine. When I grow up, I would like to be either a geophysicist, a bridge engineer (though I only want to build big cool bridges), a quilt shop owner or a drummer.
I haven’t yet decided which it will be.
Here’s hoping you enjoy the website!
Disclaimer
While we do our best to keep this site up-to-date and packed with good information, the information cannot be guaranteed as accurate and should not be taken to constitute professional midwifery or medical advice. No website or written information can be an appropriate substitute for a careful and respectful appraisal of the unique and holistic needs of an individual. We are sorry that we cannot respond to queries from people with whom we are not already working. If you are seeking advice in relation to your own health, please consult an appropriately knowledgeable practitioner for information specific to your situation.
Privacy: You can view our privacy policy here.
© Sara Wickham 2008-2023.
photo credit: Sydney by night via photopin (license)

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