Sara Wickham shares an article that she co-authored with her grandmother, sharing her grandmother’s birth stories. And that was that.
And that was that!
Only 9–12% of Green-Top guidelines based on best quality evidence…
Sara Wickham discusses research showing that only 9-12% of RCOG Green-Top guidelines are based on best quality evidence.
Is Apgar scoring a flexible friend?
Sara Wickham explains the Apgar score, details its history and asks whether it remains as relevant today as it was when it was first developed.
Evidence for the purple line…
Sara Wickham outlines the evidence for the purple line, a physical sign that can indicate progress in labour.
A seasonal story about chicks, pants and common sense…
Learning from the hen house: Sara Wickham’s seasonal story about chicks, pants and common-sense wisdom.
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.
Women have lives, pregnancies, births and children, NOT obstetric careers!
Sara Wickham debates some of the language used in the obstetric literature. Today, the focus is on the term, ‘obstetric career’.
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…
Home-made birth hearts recipe…
Sara Wickham shares her ‘recipe’ for home-made birth hearts. Can be a childbirth education activity, or just something nice to do for friends.
Age, obesity and uterine contractility…
Sara Wickham looks at two important research papers and discusses issues relating to maternal age, obesity and uterine contractility.
Induction, augmentation and autism…
Dr Sara Wickham looks at research which shows that children born to mothers who were induced, augmented or both had increased odds of having autism.
Journeying With Women: holistic midwives and relationship
The full text of Dr Sara Wickham’s 2010 article, Journeying With Women: holistic midwives and relationship. Relates to so-called “post-term” pregnancy.
Stretching the fabric: from technocratic normal limits to holistic midwives’ negotiations of normalcy
The full text of Dr Sara Wickham’s 2011 article: Stretching the fabric: from technocratic normal limits to holistic midwives’ negotiations of normalcy.
Nil nocere: doing no harm as an important guiding principle within maternity care
Nil nocere: doing no harm as an important guiding principle within maternity care. Dr Sara Wickham’s 2020 article which examines this idea.
Top ten tips for dealing with emergencies in the community
A 2012 article in which Dr Sara Wickham and colleagues share tips from midwives about dealing with emergencies in a community setting.
Association, prediction and soothsaying
When it comes to predicting what research results mean, humans don’t always have a great track record, says Dr Sara Wickham.
Citations, chocolate and colons: what gets research read?
Dr Sara Wickham looks at what gets research read, and it might be different from what you think! Chocolate, citations and colons…
Cord clamping, blood banking…
Sara Wickham discusses some of the issues relating to cord blood banking, and why parents may need more information than they currently get.
Pregnancy length varies even more than we thought…
Sara Wickham looks at research showing that pregnancy length varies even more than we thought it did.
Iron supplementation: lumping, splitting and choice
Sara Wickham points to research on iron supplementation in pregnancy and explains the notions of lumping and splitting, which are important here.
Thank you, Essentially MIDIRS
I was the founding Editor of Essentially MIDIRS and a past Editor of MIDIRS Midwifery Digest. However, along with my colleagues Nadine Edwards and Becky Reed (editors of the Digest at that time), the entire Essentially MIDIRS Advisory Panel (Ina…
Choice, Control and the Parenting Police…
A pregnant woman, who we’ll call Amanda, was recently reported to Social Services by her midwife. A representative from Social Services contacted Amanda and, somewhere along the line, Amanda realised that her ability to be a good mother to her…
Post-term Pregnancy: The Problem of the Boundaries
The full text of Dr Sara Wickham’s 2009 research article: “Post-Term Pregnancy: the problem of the boundaries.”
Anti-D: exploring midwifery knowledge
Dr Sara Wickham’s 2001 article, “anti-D: exploring midwifery knowledge”, which looked at the views and knowledge of holistic midwives.
Euphemisms and birth: good, bad or ugly?
Dr Sara Wickham discusses euphemisms, birth, language and the way in which these are used by midwives, birth workers and others.
Vitamin K: a flaw in the blueprint?
Dr Sara Wickham’s 2001 on vitamin K, in which she analysed the philosophical underpinnings of the medical-model approach to this.
A Tale of Two Women
The stories of two women who received individualised care and encouragement to help them achieve a physiological birth. But why?
Towards Greener Birth
Sara Wickham looks at the environmental impact of giving birth and suggests what midwives, doctors and others could do to make a difference.
Blaming the baby
When parents are led to believe that their newborn baby is ‘at fault’ for a health condition or situation, what implications does this have?
Obesity: Naming, Blaming and Shaming
How well do we really understand why some people are larger, and is the current approach of “naming, shaming and blaming” appropriate or helpful?
Hips and feet should never meet
Sara Wickham questions the practice of having a birthing woman place her feet on an attendant’s hips, which is unsafe and not evidence-based.
Sterile water blocks: is it time to talk?
A 2009 article in which Sara Wickham looked at the evidence and the issues relating to the use of sterile water blocks in labour.
Unpacking Sweeping Policies
A 2005 article in which Sara Wickham looked at the evidence for ‘stretching and sweeping’ as a way to try to induce labour.
Women, wizards and patchwork quilts
Sara Wickham discusses Harry Potter, Star Wars, maternal mortality and the making of quilts to bring this important issue to people’s attention.
A Crying Shame
Sara Wickham laments the launch of more technology which aims to usurp their knowledge and instead tell them what it thinks their baby needs.
Weighing the Dangers
Sara Wickham looks at the WHO Child Growth Standards and asks why there is a discrepancy between them and mothers’ and midwives’ experience.
The one-stop evidence shop
The NHS Evidence portal was hailed as a one-stop-shop for health-related information. But are there things that is misses, asks Sara Wickham?
The Flukes of Hazard
Sara Wickham compares a series of activities and shows that, when it comes to estimating risk, we might have got things a bit upside down.
Controlling the Capricious Cervix
Why are proponents of the obstetric paradigm so concerned with controlling the capricious cervix? Transvaginal ultrasound and the questions it raises.
Breech Inheritance: the flip side
Is being breech genetic, or an inherited trait? Sara Wickham looks at research which considered this, and discusses the implications of the results.
Folic Acid: the plot thickens
In a 2007 article, Sara Wickham reports on continued concerns about the use of folic acid in pregnancy and possible downsides which women aren’t aware of.
Folic acid: is there a problem?
A 2007 article in which Sara Wickham looks at some of the issues surrounding recommendations for folic acid for pregnant women and woman planning pregnancy.
A decade of polarity
Sara Wickham looks at some of the changes that occured in the fields of birth, related research and midwifery between 1997 and 2007.
RCTs and Cessation Frustration
Sara Wickham looks at what happens when a randomised controlled trial stops early, and how that can affect the results and future practice.
What’s on the label?
Sara Wickham discusses issues relating to the labelling of drugs and whether people should be offered more information about what they contain.
Hepatitis B vaccination: Whose right?
Do student midwives and other healthcare professionals have the right to decline vaccination?
Professionalisation of the Sacral Rub
Sara Wickham raises questions about the professionalisation of touch, using the example of the sacral rub, which so many women enjoy in labour.
Spin-Based Practice
Why do some ‘facts’ and ‘findings’ get shared and publicised more than others? Dr Sara Wickham looks at the concept of spin in relation to birth knowledge.
A Compromise for Change
The New Pathology of Shortness
A 2003 article in which Sara Wickham riffed on the implications of seeing shortness as a diagnosable medical condition rather than a variation of normal.
Alternidurals
Sara Wickham debates the language of pain relief in labour, and asks how we can get better information out about the benefits and risks of this.
The War on Group B Strep
The big pregnancy brain mush myth
Researchers at a recent British Psychological Society conference claim to have refuted the ‘myth’ that women’s mental capacities diminish during pregnancy (HMG Worldwide Ltd 2003). Their small study investigated whether there was any justification in the idea that pregnant women…
National breech rescue
I have talked to three women this month whose birth plans have, in one way or another, been altered by their baby turning breech. Two had planned home births, only to find that the local support available for women having…
Are we nearly there yet?
If one believes in the more radical versions of quantum theory (or watches enough Star Trek), there must be a parallel reality somewhere in which British midwives are very excited about the year 2003. In this alternate universe, midwives all…
Welcome!
Hello! This website began life as a repository rather than a blog. As a (then) academic, I was continually being asked for copies of articles that I had written, and began (with the kind permission of the original publishers) making…