Keep it Simple Sisters!
For many women pregnancy and birth are a processed medical event, carefully managed and owned by obstetricians. It does not have to be like that. You can Own Your Birth.
Here are 5 steps that help you prepare for YOUR birth
Visit birthmap.life to discover Birth Cartography. You can get the monthly newsletter and join the free Member Area. There is a wealth of resources and support opportunities. Catherine offers Birth Cartography workshops and private sessions. Her book ‘The Birth Map: boldly going where no birth plan has gone before’ is currently being evaluated for The Birth …
We have a huge problem in our society. And it is not that women need time and support to ‘recover’ from birth. The problem is we have developed a culture of segregation: where babies and mothers are not immersed in the ‘every day’ where children are sent off to school and adults to work where …
There was a time, not so long ago, when doctors were supported in law to withhold details that might influence your decision making, or that they thought might scare you. This was Bolam’s Principle. Basically this principle states that as long as the collective of doctors reckon you ain’t negligent, then you ain’t negligent. Afterall …
The Year was 1975.It was International Women’s Year. Colour TV came to Australia and The Netherlands won Eurovision with ‘Ding-a-dong’.It was the year Frederick Leboyer published Birth without Violence. In the led up to 1975, women fought to be heard. In the 45 years since, the fight continues.Whilst gains have been made, some very fundamental needs have been neglected. And not for lack of voices.By 1975, the way we were born had changed dramatically. Fr […]
Many women don’t seem to realise they CAN question the doctor, let alone seek another opinion or change care providers.Part of this is the power play that occurs when visiting the doctor: The act of waiting – makes you unimportant. The act of being called – makes you submissive/obedient Entering the doctor’s room – you …
Birth, for the modern human, is not without difficulty. Does a positive birth come down to luck,or is it a matter of Good Management? or could it be something else? We are high-level thinkers and social beings…this impacts our ability to birth. Some women experience birth without the need for assistance. And some women are …
There is an unspoken reality lurking in the undertones of maternity care.It is sinister and unconscious, a toxic unawareness that seeps into all communications and puts the weight of expectation onto The Woman.I will call this The Game of Birth. The Elephant in the Womb. The unspoken rules of the maternity system. It is a game about power, about control. A game of Dark and Light. The aim of the game is to keep it light. The rules are simple, but never implicit.&nbs […]
Birth is Dangerous! or is it? ‘Danger’ and ‘Risk’ are sometimes used interchangeably, but they actually mean very different things. To use ‘danger’ when you mean ‘risk’, could be very damaging. The Nocebo Effect is a very real phenomenon, and the words we use are very powerful. Using ‘danger’ when you mean ‘risk’, and ‘risk’ when you …
We hear a lot about evidence-based care, but just as with ‘shared-decision making’, it is often misunderstood. Evidence-based care is comprised of 4 components: The best available research evidence (ie population level understanding, which requires multiple sources) The level of skills, training and experience of the care provider The values and circumstances of the decision …
