http://www.birthright.com.au/ Sat, 19 May 2012 04:52:32 Birth Right Articles http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Post-Natal-Doula-Training.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Post-Natal-Doula-Training.html Birth Right™ is happy to announce that in January 2011 we will be running the first Post-Natal Doula training course in Australia. Coming home from hospital with a new baby can be overwhelming. Many new Mum’s do not have extended family support and most partner’s have limited time off work. This training will prepare you to support, nurture and guide new parents, to build confidence in their own... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Waterbirth-at-Home.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Waterbirth-at-Home.html Jane was 42 weeks gestation when she went into labour with her first baby and her membranes released with thick meconium. This followed a week of pre-labour. Jane’s dream of a waterbirth in the birth centre went out the window. Jane was strong, focused and determined to have a normal birth, and with doula and partner support she birthed beautifully in the delivery suite. For this 2nd birth she chose to birth at home, after much... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/DOULA!-The-Ultimate-Birth-Companion.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/DOULA!-The-Ultimate-Birth-Companion.html A Uniquely Intimate Film Screening - DOULA! The Ultimate Birth Companion BIRTH RIGHT™ is holding a screening on Mon 6 Sept at 7pm – For a new documentary film about doulas - professional birth support, which is being screened as part of a worldwide campaign to help raise awareness. Doula! The Ultimate Birth Companion is a 65 minute, intimate and emotionally charged documentary about doulas and their part in... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Mission-Impossible.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Mission-Impossible.html “I am open to natural birth” said the Obstetrician to Lisa who was discussing what she wanted for her birth. If you look deeply into this statement “I am open”, there are many different interpretations. Firstly the use of the word “I” – one needs to ask whose birth does he think it is? Surely the birth belongs to Lisa and her baby. “I” would also... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Free-Introductory-Evening-on-HypnoBirthing®.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Free-Introductory-Evening-on-HypnoBirthing®.html Imagine birthing your baby with grace and ease, in a calm and peaceful environment Imagine birthing without fear and anxiety Imagine being in total control of your birthing experience Want to know more? Then come and hear from an experienced HypnoBirthing® Practitioner Susan Ross is also a midwife, doula, trainer, educator, author, mother and owner of Birth Right™ Where: Birth Right™, 1/1... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Doula-Training.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Doula-Training.html The 8 new trainee doula’s arrived early on their first day of training, with a mixture of excitement and nerves. What an interesting group of women from all ages and backgrounds. Our introductions were long with everyone interested in exploring each one’s different life and professional experiences. This training seems to attract women with such varied skills. Bringing all this into their doula work is what makes a... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/A-Doula-Story.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/A-Doula-Story.html It was their 2nd baby. Simon phoned me about 7am. Sarah’s waters released about 4am and she had been experiencing regular contractions and managing well. Now they were very regular and intense and could I please come. What would normally be a 15-20 min trip for me took almost an hour – peak hour traffic and negotiating that bridge at 8am on a weekday morning. Finally arrived to find Sarah upstairs leaning over a fit... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Chiropractic-in-Pregnancy.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Chiropractic-in-Pregnancy.html As a midwife working in hospitals some years ago I had a distinct sense that the medicalisation of birth had become so evident over the last few decades has been a huge factor in the long term health of our children. As much as I loved working with pregnant and birthing women and their babies, I progressively found it more difficult to work within the medical paradigm, as it was not aligned with my philosophy around health, pregnancy and... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Streptococcus-B-in-Pregnancy.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Streptococcus-B-in-Pregnancy.html Strep. B is a bacteria which can be found in many parts of the body. If the bacteria travel to a woman’s bladder, kidney or uterus, an infection can occur which causes inflammation and painful symptoms. However, a woman can have this bacteria in her vagina and rectum and show no symptoms of infection. This should not be presented as a ‘routine’ test, but be offered to women, who can then do some research... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Hypnobirthing®-Story.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Hypnobirthing®-Story.html This is an amazing HypnoBirthing® story of a birth I was privileged to provide support for. Heidi’s first birth, in London, was very long and ended up with a lot of medical intervention, leaving her feeling very disappointed and let down by the system. Now, back in Australia and pregnant for the second time, Heidi was determined to have the birth experience she wanted. Having shopped around, she found Birth Right and... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Medical-Student-Experience.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Medical-Student-Experience.html Medical students learning about normal birth! What a novel concept! I have just had the opportunity to discuss normal birth with 2nd yr medical students, in a small group situation. This was 2hrs per day over 2 weeks, so we got to speak to lots of students. Each session involved also a pregnant and/or breastfeeding woman, discussing her birth, breastfeeding and parenting experiences. What struck me about these, mainly 19yr old... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Homebirth-is-Safe.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Homebirth-is-Safe.html I hope that most can ignore the irresponsible front page headline, about homebirth, in one of the newspapers recently. If you did read it, and got to the fine print, you would have realised they were discussing ‘free births’ NOT Midwife attended homebirths. The publication of the world’s largest study of planned, Midwife attended homebirths, has just been released. Published in the British Journal of... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Birth-Choices.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Birth-Choices.html I meet, all too often, women who are pregnant with their first baby and are not happy with their caregiver. Some women who are up to second or third baby, and are wanting, some are desperately seeking, a different birthing experience. I still find it amazing that these women are not aware of their choices, and yet, how can they be, when most find themselves at the GP to confirm their pregnancy and are relying on that person to direct them... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/HypnoBirthing®-Power.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/HypnoBirthing®-Power.html Robyn had been in pre-labour for over a week. She had a show a week ago, and in and out of labour, mainly at night, for the remainder of that week.Very frustrating. There was a number of nights when she phoned me, her doula, stating that the surges were now regular and she felt like this was it! As the dawn arrived, surges would slow, she would get some sleep and have a relatively normal day. I could sense that Derek, her partner, was... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Caesarean-Rates.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Caesarean-Rates.html Caesarean Section rate is on the increase in Australia – again. Now up to about 32% of all births. The main reason listed is “psychosocial reasons” - what a multitude of things this covers! Generally this is put forward because it is a ‘convenience’ for either the Doctor or the woman. This also covers ‘vanity’, but mainly FEAR! FEAR is the underlying reason that... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/VBAC-story.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/VBAC-story.html Alison and Craig have 3 yr old twins born by caesarean. She is determined that this singleton pregnancy will be a normal vaginal birth. I first met them early in the pregnancy when Alison was unsure about whether to have a homebirth or book into a birth centre with a doula. After lots of research and discussion she decided to book the birth centre option. Alison had a normal healthy pregnancy, apart from being Strep. B pos. She did not... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Labour-Language.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Labour-Language.html If only we could get the message across to everyone involved in birthing, about the ‘power of language’. If you think women are sensitive to what you say to them during pregnancy, then they are certainly ‘super-sensitive’ during labour and birth. A good rule is:- if in doubt about how or what to say during labour then keep your mouth shut! This should apply to all: from midwife, partner, doula,... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Water-Birth.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Water-Birth.html I have just had the privilege of supporting Ruth and David at the birth of their second daughter. We met during Ruth’s first pregnancy for some pre-natal education. Ruth was always focused on a ‘normal’ birth, with no medical intervention. She was attending a Birth Centre and as I was working with a film maker, filming as many births as we were able to, I offered this to Ruth, who had a typical... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Pregnant?-You-deserve-a-Doula.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Pregnant?-You-deserve-a-Doula.html A doula is a professional support for labour and birth. The doula profession is huge in the U.S.A. I attended an International Doula Conference, in St. Louis last year and was overwhelmed by the delegates – all 450 of them, from all over the world – but also the speakers and the research. So why do Australian women need a doula? Because the way women are cared for during pregnancy, labour and birth has changed over the... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Placenta---What-do-you-do-with-it?.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/Placenta---What-do-you-do-with-it?.html Third stage of labour has been largely ignored or dismissed as unimportant. Obstetricians prefer women to have a syntocinon injection with the birth of baby’s shoulder, basically to speed up the third stage, presumably so they can leave and not have to ‘hang about’ and wait patiently, for the placenta to separate. Most women who birth in a Delivery Suite, will find the same attitude. They are busy places, beds... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/A-breastfeeding-story.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/A-breastfeeding-story.html A breastfeeding story: pregnant for the second time, Emily is very anxious. She had a very long labour at a Birth Centre with her last baby, transferred to Delivery Suite, had an epidural and much deserved rest and felt very pleased to push her baby out, unassisted. Was not happy with the care on the post-natal ward. They were very busy and no-one sat with her and helped with a breastfeed. Baby was not passing good amounts of urine and it... http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/A-Birth-Story.html http://www.birthright.com.au/articles/A-Birth-Story.html Sharon, pregnant with her 4th baby and booked into the same Birth Centre she had used for her 3 previous births. One of those babies had been a waterbirth and the other 2 were on all fours on a mat. She had no medical intervention and no perineal trauma – no stitches with her 3 previous births. The expectation was that 4th baby should be a ‘very easy’ and enjoyable birth. On her arrival at the hospital she was...