Ethically, medical intervention has to prove itself against nature. Not the other way around. Sara Wickham on induction and the precautionary principle.
Whatever happened to the precautionary principle?
Author: Sara Wickham
Dr Sara Wickham is an author, speaker, and researcher specialising in pregnancy, birth, and maternity care. Her work focuses on evidence-based, woman-centred information and informed decision-making, drawing on more than 30 years of midwifery knowledge and experience.
The knee-jerk effect in maternity care
Sara Wickham looks at the knee-jerk effect in maternity care. When one or two adverse outcomes lead to sweeping policy changes, often with no evidence.
Vitamin K: evidence, risk and informed choice
Dr Sara Wickham looks at a paper on vitamin K which generated media coverage, and considers the evidence, and the wider issues.
What’s the evidence for raspberry leaf tea?
What’s the evidence for raspberry leaf tea in pregnancy? Dr Sara Wickham investigates, explaining what we do and don’t know.
Optimal cord clamping: what’s the evidence?
What do women want when it comes to the induction decision? Dr Sara Wickham investigates research which shows that it’s more complex than we might think.
Induction for advanced maternal age
Sara Wickham looks at recommendations made for induction of labour in older women, citing the lack of good evidence to support this.
Short-termism, induction, and adverse outcomes
One of the key criticisms of the technocratic approach to birth is that it focuses on short-term, physical outcomes while ignoring medium- and long-term consequences, and the wider mental and social implications of interventions. In this blog post, I’m going…
Let there be mood lighting…
Tips and tools for setting the right kind of lighting for labour and birth, both at home and in hospital, from Sara Wickham.
How language can obscure choice
Sara Wickham discusses how language can be used to obscure choice, or as a tool to exercise power, often in subtle ways that aren’t easily spotted.
Transvaginal examination – the need for care
Dr Sara Wickham looks at some of the information women need in order to make an informed decision about transvaginal ultrasound examination.