Should I be expressing colostrum antenatally?
Have you noticed lots of Instagram posts about expressing colostrum antenatally? There are even people jumping on the bandwagon and selling “kits”. I have been around long enough to have seen many fads in this space and I can’t help thinking this is one of them. (NB:...
A Blog for Doulas: The ARRIVE Trial
Last week I was asked to speak to doulas from the Doula Training Academy about the complexities of the ARRIVE study so I thought I would write a blog based on that webinar. The doulas wanted to better understand the conclusions of the ARRIVE study as there is other...
Caesarean Section Awareness: All year round
April is "International Cesarean Awareness Month", an event organised by ICAN – The International Cesarean Awareness Network. However, I am writing this blog at the beginning of May because I think we should uphold the intentions of ICAN all year round. The...
Induction at 39 weeks: What Covid research can add to the debate.
Has someone suggested induction at 39 weeks to you? It can be so confusing to know what is the right thing to do for you and your baby as there is so much conflicting advice and research. On one hand, we have the American ARRIVE Trial promoting induction at 39 weeks...
Every Week Really Does Matter: Redefining Term For Planned Births
Today the Fourth Atlas of Healthcare Variation was launched, and I was just asked to comment on it on ABC Perth. It is a report by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, and its number one concern was the rising number of early planned births...
C/Section Rates Perth and Regional WA
I am not sure how I missed it but the "Western Australia’s Mothers and Babies, 2015, 33rd Annual Report" was released in July 2019. As always I wonder why there is a 4 year lag on reporting the data, and how different the actual data for 2019 would be? You can...
Pregnancy and Covid-19: a positive side effect
With all the talk and fear surrounding Pregnancy and Covid-19 at the moment, I thought it might be good to talk about a really positive benefit that I am seeing: an undisturbed pregnancy. People have already commented on how the planet is enjoying the reduced...
Stretch and Sweep at 38 weeks
Have you been offered a Stretch and Sweep at 38 weeks? I have been wondering about the evidence around offering all women a stretch and sweep at 38 weeks. This is something more and more Obstetricians and Midwives are doing in Perth. One area this has...
Caesarean Section Rates in Perth Hospitals
I have updated my graph for c/section rates in Perth Hospitals because I have been able to fill in some of the gaps. When the Western Australia’s Mothers and Babies, 2014 32nd Annual Report of the Western Australian Midwives’ Notification System was released in...
Quackery or Reducing Intervention?
Why are some obstetricians suddenly all up in arms about traditional practices that help women take control of their births? Surely anything that helps women and does no harm should be encouraged. It doesn’t make sense that obstetricians would not want women to have...
Put down your phone for a better birth.
Is your phone on your "pack for labour" list? You might want to re-think and switch it off altogether. I'm always concerned about the number of women who post screenshots of their "contraction app" on social media and ask: "Do you think I should go to the hospital?"...
An Inconvenient Truth : Care Not Technology Saves Babies
I was just reading about a new invention that the media are calling 'the pregnancy patch' (although it seems it is meant to be used during labour to measure contractions and fetal heart rate) will apparently lower intervention rates. I am left wondering how a new...