birth plan

Forget the Birth Plan – You Need a Birth Map

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Most people hear ‘birth plan’ and think of something set in stone, something that has to be followed to the letter and has no room for error. Something that is inflexible, rigid and ultimately impossible to achieve. Birth is unpredictable, so surely it is pointless to plan. 
This leaves you with two options:

1. Hand over your power and be a ‘good girl’.  Don’t ask complicated questions, just do as you are told, no need to worry your pretty little head with the details.
OR
2. Create a Birth MAP. 

The Flows of Modern Birthing

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​​You have probably heard of ‘The Cascade of Intervention’.  It is the idea that once an intervention occurs, the rest shall follow.  This is considered a ‘Slippery Slope’.  It is, however, more nuanced than a cascade and there is more than one slope.  If we think of physiological birth as a flowing river, there are …

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Scientific Birth and how to have one

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updated post​Scientific Birth is birth as nature intended, without intervention. Technological Birth relates to the interventions. Understand both. Determine for yourself whether or not a technological aspect to your birth is necessary.  Go with the Flow or pack a Paddle?​Who you birth with (care provider and non-medical support) will influence how technical your birth will be, so if a scientific birth is important to you – align your support with the less technical care […]

What do you need?

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Frozen II is a tale of Power, of Leadership and of Transformation. There are many layers to Frozen II; Elsa’s journey of self discovery weaves through a tale of transformation for each of the main characters. The story throws the spotlight on the destructiveness of the patriarchy, showing us the differences between Authoritative Dictatorship (familiar to us all) and Peaceful Leadership (a pipe dream, perhaps, but not impossible). Frozen II is about Journeys and Love.In […]

Diplomacy, politeness and the underlying threat

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The Poem ‘want a positive birth? say please‘ was inspired by the frequent advice related to how to write a birth plan, that suggests you be polite, and positive.  And not adversarial. The scene is set: clearly birthing is Us vs Them.  And there is no shortage of horror stories. The purpose of the birth …

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The Best Plan is No Plan…or is it?

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  You may have heard that “The Best Plan is No Plan”, because: Birth is unpredictable, a birth plan = high expectations…but instead of lowering them…how about having no expectations!  Birth plans set you up for disappointment, you must be open to whatever unfolds…. This is actually a very interesting point, as behavioural specialist Ray …

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Before you give birth you need to know this

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LEAVE THE UMBILICAL CORD UNCLAMPED! and by that I mean Don’t Cut the Cord! It does not need to be tied off – with a clamp, shoelace, floss or crochet tie. I am deeply concerned that it is still widely promoted by medically trained people that this is necessary.  IT IS NOT. This news article …

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