“I raised a concern with the obstetrician and she said we just have to play it by ear as to what’s happening with the pregnancy at that point. So I felt reassured by that.” Reassure say or do something to remove the doubts or fears Dismiss treat as unworthy of serious consideration The quote above describes an all too …
The following is an excerpt from The Birth Map: boldly going where no birth plan has gone before The medical terms used to describe pre-labour caesareans are ‘planned’, ‘elective’ or ‘scheduled’. Any in-labour caesarean is deemed an ‘emergency caesarean’. However in the interests of clarity, there are degrees of urgency. From ‘Pregnancy, Birth and Baby: …
The strength of a Birth Map is found if our journey needs to detour. Considering some of the more difficult pathways in advance, can help us immeasurably in the event of adversity. You may have heard that birth plans set us up for disappointment…there are some common mistakes made when creating a birth plan, which …
We are seeing bundle after bundle rolling out to improve care and all they seem to do is increase paperwork and scare The bundles are a bungle of tokenistic action despite well established solutions that would cost but a fraction! There are two bundles in recent times that have been cause for concern. The first …
Preparing for Birth is like preparing to climb Mount Everest, but with much more chance of success and a lot more warmth! When climbing Everest, a Sherpa is an essential part of your team. They know the landscape, the climate and remain calm and alert. In Birth, a doula is like a sherpa. The doula is familiar with the location, the people and the physiology, remaining calm and alert, guiding and supporting you.
This is the story of a Birth Plan that was not used. A Birth Plan that was carefully made, was informed and detailed, but was never even looked at during the birth.This is the story of a cup of tea, left to go cold. Rebecca* was determined that her birth would not ‘go with the flow’ , …
Across Australia, we are seeing the roll out of the ‘Safer Baby Bundle’. This is an initiative to reduce stillbirth. This is an obviously noble goal, with five key areas of focus in the form of hashtagable social messaging. The five key areas are: #Quit4Baby #GrowingMatters #MovementsMatter #SleeponSide #LetsTalkTiming As I explored the resources associated …
The horror of birth, in all it’s unpredictable gory, is the glee of birth skeptics and trolls across social media. The birth plan is the perfect target , scapegoat and crime; there is no point writing one.
or is there?
what if we talked about and prepared for a positive birth. No Matter What.
I saw the above doodle on the facebook. It prompted me to create the below: Not as simplistic, perhaps, or sweet even, but I still felt compelled to point out how a Birth Map, is the opposite to the first doodle. Birth Mapping (or Birth Cartography) is a powerful process of becoming aware of all …
Is there such a thing as Too Much Information? A point where overwhelm means overcome? Is it possible that blissful ignorance Protects us from being The One? The One who has a bad time, The One who gets The Lot, The One who is disappointed The one whose birth was shot. And what does it …
