Research has provided further support for the idea that it is vital to listen to women and to pay attention to other ways of knowing such as intuition
Evidence of the importance of listening to women
Vitamin K and tongue tie division
What happens when parents want a tongue tie division but the baby hasn’t had vitamin K? Can professionals decline to do this? What are the issues?
The birth of a midwife?
Sara Wickham writes about children at birth through the story of ‘Eleanor’, a three year-old who came to her sister’s home birth.
Another way of supporting women who wish to decline
A woman-centred framework for documentation and communication for use when women wish to decline aspects of maternity care.
Happy Spring!
Happy Spring! Especially to those of you working over the holidays, because babies don’t know when the weather is good and we’re all outside!
Post-term pregnancy and induction of labour resources
This page lists all the resources available from Dr Sara Wickham on the topics of post-term pregnancy and induction of labour.
Continuing the electronic fetal monitoring debate
Research telling the story behind some of the recent EFM debates in the medical literature and discussing the bias towards electronic fetal monitoring.
How to share content so everyone benefits…
How to share content so that everyone benefits? Sara Wickham offers some suggestions and tips to help you stay generous, friendly and legal.
Pinard Wisdom (part 2)
How do you use a pinard? Sara Wickham and other experienced midwives offer tips, tricks and suggestions for those wanting to develop this skill.
Pinard Wisdom (part 1)
How do you use a pinard? Sara Wickham and other experienced midwives offer tips, tricks and suggestions for those wanting to develop this skill.
The downside of trying to “manage” birth…
What is the downside of trying to manage birth? Sara Wickham looks at how our own actions are often working against women’s and babies’ physiology.
The wisdom of storks
Sara Wickham looks at what storks can teach us about the need for science AND stories when it comes to birth wisdom.
Fetal monitoring and cherry picking evidence…
Two senior doctors commend the BMJ for publishing a debate highlighting the way “in which the doctors supporting monitoring seem to cherry pick evidence”
Four recent birth-related revelations…
Sara Wickham offers an update of birth-related research. This post focuses on information published in Winter 2017-2018.
Midwives are heroes…
“Being a midwife is similar to being an Apache pilot,” says Steve Osterholzer, Apache pilot and a midwife’s husband. And midwives are heroes…
Unexpected home birth: let’s keep our shoelaces on…
Sara Wickham explains why advice given by the emergency services to use shoelaces to tie the cord at birth is incorrect and dangerous
Untangling tocophobia
‘What is it called,’ a woman asked, ‘when you’re fearful of medicalisation?’ Sara Wickham attempts to provide an answer to this.
What’s an Aqua Apgar?
Sara Wickham describes the aqua Apgar score, which reflects the way that babies born in water may be more alert and less likely to cry.
What are the downsides of information?
The downsides of information, with a focus on some unexpected consequences of a genetic test given as a gift that wasn’t as much fun as advertised.
More benefits of water for birth
What are the benefits of water for birth? Sara Wickham looks at two studies highlighting the advantages of this for women and babies.
The perils of cyberchondria
Sara Wickham writes about the perils of cyberchondria, or the consequences of using the internet as a source of health-care advice.
A potpourri of festive pondering on women, birth and midwifery
Sara Wickham celebrates the beginning of the 2017 holiday season by offering a potpourri of festive pondering on women, birth and midwifery
Number Crunching
Sara Wickham discusses number crunching, statistics and the way that our cultural obsession with these things impacts health and maternity care.
The ungentle art of persuasion
Sara Wickham unpacks the way in which professionals are sometimes told to persuade childbearing women – even when they don’t want to.
Objectivity and post-it notes
Sara Wickham talks objectivity, the free post-it notes and other goodies available at conferences and how we should declare competing interests
Castor oil for labour induction
A study has looked at birthing outcomes of 323 women who used castor oil for labour induction, with interesting results, says Sara Wickham.
More evidence for rebozos…
Sara Wickham looks at more evidence for rebozos; another study which looked at the experiences of women who used this low-tech tool in labour.
The evidence for rebozos – part 2
Sara Wickham continues looking at the evidence for rebozos, in the second part of her article about the Mexican shawl that some use at birth.
How to spot signs of infection in babies
A tool to help parents learn to identify signs of infection in babies. Dr Sara Wickham’s colourful graphic shows what we need to look out for.
Protecting the perineum: midwifery expertise
Sara Wickham looks at research about the views and skills of midwives who have expertise in protecting a woman’s perineum during birth.
Updated UK GBS guideline
Sara Wickham looks at the updated UK GBS guideline and what it means for women and their decision making during pregnancy and birth.
What is person-centred care?
Sara Wickham responds to a question about person-centred care and offers a definition from the British Medical Journal for this.
How professionals develop physiological breech birth skills
A recent research paper discusses the question of how professionals develop skills in facilitating physiological breech birth.
Engendering rather than endangering trust
Heavy-handed persuasion tactics and the aggressive language of some medically-focused papers are inappropriate and harmful, says Sara Wickham
Deconstructing prophylaxis
Is prevention better than cure? Sara Wickham looks at the idea of prophylaxis; doing things to try to prevent disease and danger.
Vitamin K and the Newborn – now available!
Vitamin K and the Newborn, a book explaning the evidence and the issues surrounding the administration of vitamin K to newborn babies
The evidence for rebozos – part 1
Sara Wickham begins her exploration of the use of the rebozo; a Mexican scarf sometimes used in labour and birth. What’s the evidence?
Understanding more about birth and story…
How do birth stories affect women? Sara Wickham looks at a research study which set out to find the answer to that question.
Pondering Domesticity…
Pondering domesticity: what is domesticity, where is the joy in it and research looking at how domesticity dictates behaviour in the birth space
What is the BRAN analysis?
Sara Wickham defines the BRAN analysis, offering a bit of history and an explanation of what this decision making acronym means.
The words we use…
Sara Wickham’s article in which she discusses some of the language used around birth. Offers questions, insights and suggestions for change.
Vaginal seeding – more data required?
Sara Wickham looks at research on vaginal seeding stating that the benefits of vaginal seeding “do not outweigh the risks”.
Is it a problem to take paracetamol in labour?
Sara Wickham points to a blog post answering a key question: is it a problem to take paracetamol in labour?
Another ‘shared decision-making’ rant!
The term ‘shared decision-making’ implies that the practitioner gets a say in what the person decides, and that’s not quite right…
Do midwives kiss babies?
Do midwives kiss babies? Sara Wickham tried to answer this question, which once brought someone from a search engine to her website.
Women’s experience of vaginal birth after caesarean
Sara Wickham looks at a research paper exploring women’s experience of vaginal birth after caesarean.
Birth outcomes and women of size
Sara Wickham looks at another piece of research showing that we the ‘received wisdom’ on birth outcomes and women of size may be wrong.
Ten tips for accessing academic papers online
Sara Wickham looks at the problem of how to access research, especially if you’re not a current student. Offers tips for accessing academic papers.
More evidence on targeting anti-D
Research looking at targeting anti-D … using fetal rhesus group testing in order to offer anti-D only to women carrying rhesus positive babies.
Resources for questioning vaginal examination
Sara Wickham offers resources for questioning vaginal examination, both from her own work and other research, websites and organisations.
Analysing water immersion guidelines
Sara Wickham looks at research analysing Australian policies and guidelines for water immersion during labour and birth.
The language of birth: crossing the Ts and promoting positivity
Sara Wickham looks at more examples of the language of birth. More on why ‘T’ for term is problematic, and the promotion of positivity.
Group B Strep: the realm of mysteries
“To study neonatal Streptococcal B infection is to enter the realm of mysteries…”, says Michel Odent.
Perineal techniques during the second stage of labour for reducing perineal trauma
A new Cochrane review has been published on the subject of reducing perineal trauma by using certain techniques during the second stage of labour.
Women with diabetes and expressing breastmilk in pregnancy
What’s the evidence on women with diabetes expressing their breastmilk in late pregnancy and storing it in case their baby needs it after birth?
When even simple tools can harm…
Sara Wickham looks at a case study showing that heat sources can be harmful when women use epidural analgesia in labour, because of the loss of sensation
Why it’s not necessarily about you, and caesareans for profit
A systematic review and meta-analysis has looked at the relationship between the caesarean section rate and the for-profit status of the hospital.
Closeness after birth
Research shows that hospital practices both promote closeness and cause separation in the first couple of hours after birth.
Exploring the Exceptions
Sara Wickham on ‘exploring the exceptions’ … the times in midwifery and medical practice when general rules should be ignored or broken.
More evidence that (and why) induction leads to more caesareans
Women who undergo induction of labour are more likely to end up with a caesarean section than if their labour began naturally