Over the years, I have been repeatedly asked by student midwives for a reference to an article that gives basic information on how to use a Pinard to listen to a baby’s heartbeat, either to supplement learning in practice, or…
Pinard Wisdom (part 2)
Category: Articles
Pinard Wisdom (part 1)
Over the years, I have been repeatedly asked by student midwives for a reference to an article that gives basic information on how to use a Pinard to listen to a baby’s heartbeat, either to supplement learning in practice, or…
The wisdom of storks
The stork is well loved as an image associated with birth and midwives; a good number of midwifery practices in the English-speaking world feature the word in their name, and images of the birds often appear on logos and web…
Untangling tocophobia
A year or so ago, a pregnant woman asked me a really good question, which I answered briefly in a blog post (Wickham 2016). ‘What is it called,’ she asked, ‘when you’re fearful of medicalisation?’ I couldn’t come up with…
The perils of cyberchondria
My working day got off to a slow start on the day I originally wrote this article, mainly because of Wikipedia! Within minutes of turning my computer on, I was contacted by a woman whose births I attended a few…
A potpourri of festive pondering on women, birth and midwifery
As someone who is fully subscribed to the notion that ongoing learning and growth are intrinsic, essential and joyful elements of living, searching out new knowledge is a big part of my daily life. Some of that knowledge gets turned…
Number Crunching
When I first wrote the article that this blog post is based upon, I had just finished reading a superb book, The Tyranny of Numbers by economist David Boyle (2001). In it, he critiqued our society’s reliance on and obsession…
Vitamin K Resources
This post is a collection of links to articles and resources that I have authored on the subject of vitamin K and I have now updated it to reflect the publication of the second edition of my book – which…
The ungentle art of persuasion
One of the great things about being allowed to write in midwifery journals is that, when you come across an article or idea that pleases you, annoys you or just makes you think harder than usual, you can share those…
Objectivity and post-it notes
Over the last few years, evidence-based practice has become a standard expectation of Western health care systems, rather than a topic whose value is debated by clinicians. Concurrently, rules of convention have developed, and it has now become politically correct…