Sara Wickham looks at research which further confirms the value of skin-to-skin care (SSC) and argues that this should be “aggressively promoted”.
Skin-to-skin care “should be aggressively promoted”…
Category: Research Updates
Could maternal body slope be key to protecting babies?
Could maternal body slope be key to protecting babies? Sara Wickham shares research and thinking from biological nurturing expert Suzanne Colson.
A revelation that every birth worker needs to know about gravity and placental transfusion
Do we really need to hold newborn babies at the level of the placenta so that gravity can assist transfusion? No, according to new research.
Not enough evidence that magnesium supplementation in pregnancy is beneficial…
Sara Wickham looks at the evidence on magnesium supplementation in pregnancy and whether this is beneficial.
Normal postnatal bowel function and the poo taboo
Sara Wickham looks at research which explored what normal postnatal bowel function was like for women. It differs depending on mode of birth and feeding.
‘More than clinical waste? Placental rituals among Australian home-birthing women’
Sara Wickham looks at research exploring the placental rituals amiong Australian home-birthing women, including burial, placentophagy, and lotus birth.
Breastfeeding: food for thought…
Sara Wickham looks at research showing that naked infant-mother body contact within the first hour of life was a good means of promoting effective sucking.
Another riff on the latest home birth research…
It doesn’t matter how many insults are thrown at those who choose and support homebirth; research study after research study continues to show that this is a safe and reasonable option. This week, the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health…
New Cochrane review evidences that cuddles help reduce pain in neonates…
I have the very greatest respect for my esteemed colleagues who have authored the newest birth-related Cochrane review which shows that skin-to-skin care (the technical term for cuddling) can help reduce procedural pain in neonates (Johnston et al 2014). It’s…
Age, obesity and uterine contractility…
Sara Wickham looks at two important research papers and discusses issues relating to maternal age, obesity and uterine contractility.