Podcasts about midwifery today

All four of my children were born at home. I feel extremely fortunate about this - they should too. Four wonderful experiences. I will forever be in debt to Louisa and Jolie.When, twenty-four years ago, my then wife, Louisa, told me she wanted to give birth to our first child at home, I thought she was off her rocker, but I gave her my word that we would at least talk to a midwife, and we did just that. Within about five minutes of meeting Tina Perridge of South London Independent Midwives, a lady of whom I cannot speak highly enough, I was instantly persuaded. Ever since, when I hear that someone is pregnant, I start urging them to have a homebirth with the persistence of a Jehovah's Witness or someone pedalling an upgrade to your current mobile phone subscription. I even included a chapter about it in my first book Life After the State - Why We Don't Need Government (2013), (now, thanks to the invaluable help of my buddy Chris P, back in print - with the audiobook here [Audible UK, Audible US, Apple Books]).I'm publishing that chapter here, something I was previously not able to do (rights issues), because I want as many people as possible to read it. Many people do not even know home-birth is an option. I'm fully aware that, when it comes to giving birth, one of the last people a prospective mum wants to hear advice from is comedian and financial writer, Dominic Frisby. I'm also aware that this is an extremely sensitive subject and that I am treading on eggshells galore. But the word needs to be spread. All I would say is that if you or someone you know is pregnant, have a conversation with an independent midwife, before committing to having your baby in a hospital. It's so important. Please just talk to an independent midwife first. With that said, here is that chapter. Enjoy it, and if you know anyone who is pregnant, please send this to them.We have to use fiat money, we have to pay taxes, most of us are beholden in some way to the education system. These are all things much bigger than us, over which we have little control. The birth of your child, however, is one of the most important experiences of your (and their) life, one where the state so often makes a mess of things, but one where it really is possible to have some control.The State: Looking After Your First BreathThe knowledge of how to give birth without outside interventions lies deep within each woman. Successful childbirth depends on an acceptance of the process.Suzanne Arms, authorThere is no single experience that puts you more in touch with the meaning of life than birth. A birth should be a happy, healthy, wonderful experience for everyone involved. Too often it isn't.Broadly speaking, there are three places a mother can give birth: at home, in hospital or – half-way house – at a birthing centre. Over the course of the 20th century we have moved birth from the home to the hospital. In the UK in the 1920s something like 80% of births took place at home. In the 1960s it was one in three. By 1991 it was 1%. In Japan the home-birth rate was 95% in 1950 falling to 1.2% in 1975. In the US home-birth went from 50% in 1938 to 1% in 1955. In the UK now 2.7% of births take place at home. In Scotland, 1.2% of births take place at home, and in Northern Ireland this drops to fewer than 0.4%. Home-birth is now the anomaly. But for several thousand years, it was the norm.The two key words here are ‘happy' and ‘healthy'. The two tend to come hand in hand. But let's look, first, at ‘healthy'. Let me stress, I am looking at planned homebirth; not a homebirth where mum didn't get to the hospital in time.My initial assumption when I looked at this subject was that hospital would be more healthy. A hospital is full of trained personnel, medicine and medical equipment. My first instinct against home-birth, it turned out, echoed the numerous arguments against it, which come from many parts of the medical establishment. They more or less run along the lines of this statement from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology: ‘Unless a woman is in a hospital, an accredited free-standing birthing centre or a birthing centre within a hospital complex, with physicians ready to intervene quickly if necessary, she puts herself and her baby's health and life at unnecessary risk.'Actually, the risk of death for babies born at home is almost half that of babies born at hospital (0.35 per 1,000 compared to 0.64), according to a 2009 study by the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence reports that mortality rates are the same in booked home-birth as in hospitals. In November 2011 a study of 65,000 mothers by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) was published in the British Medical Journal. The overall rate of negative birth outcomes (death or serious complications) was 4.3 per 1,000 births, with no difference in outcome between non-obstetric and obstetric (hospital) settings. The study did find that the rate of complications rose for first-time mums, 5.3 per 1,000 (0.53%) for hospitals and 9.5 per 1,000 (0.95%) for home-birth. I suspect the number of complications falls with later births because, with experience, the process becomes easier – and because mothers who had problems are less likely to have more children than those who didn't. The Daily Mail managed to twist this into: ‘First-time mothers who opt for home birth face triple the risk of death or brain damage in child.' Don't you just love newspapers? Whether at home or in the hospital there were 250 negative events seen in the study: early neonatal deaths accounted for 13%; brain damage 46%; meconium aspiration syndrome 20%; traumatic nerve damage 4% and fractured bones 4%. Not all of these were treatable.There are so many variables in birth that raw comparative statistics are not always enough. And, without wishing to get into an ethical argument, there are other factors apart from safety. There are things – comfort, happiness, for example – for which people are prepared to sacrifice a little safety. The overriding statistic to take away from that part of the study is that less than 1% of births in the UK, whether at hospital or at home, lead to serious complications.But when you look at rates of satisfaction with their birth experience, the numbers are staggering. According to a 1999 study by Midwifery Today researching women who have experienced both home and hospital birth, over 99% said that they would prefer to have a home-birth in the future!What, then, is so unsatisfying about the hospital birth experience? I'm going to walk through the birthing process now, comparing what goes on at home to hospital. Of course, no two births are the same, no two homes are the same, no two hospitals are the same, but, broadly speaking, it seems women prefer the home-birth experience because: they have more autonomy at home, they suffer less intervention at home and, yes, it appears they actually suffer less pain at home. When mum goes into labour, the journey to the hospital, sometimes rushed, the alien setting when she gets there, the array of doctors and nurses who she may never have met before, but are about to get intimate, can all upset her rhythm and the production of her labour hormones. These aren't always problems, but they have the potential to be; they add to stress and detract from comfort.At home, mum is in a familiar environment, she can get comfortable and settled, go where she likes and do what she likes. Often getting on with something else can take her mind off the pain of the contractions, while in hospital there is little else to focus on. At home, she can choose where she wants to give birth – and she can change her mind, if she likes. She is in her own domain, without someone she doesn't know telling her what she can and can't do. She can change the light, the heating, the music; she can decide exactly who she wants at the birth and who ‘catches' her baby. She can choose what she wants to eat. She will have interviewed and chosen her midwife many months before, and built up a relationship over that time. But in hospitals she is attended by whoever is on duty, she has to eat hospital food, there might be interruptions, doctors' pagers, alarms, screams from next door, whirrs of machinery, tube lighting, overworked, resentful staff to deal with, internal hospital politics, people coming in, waking her up, and checking her vitals, sticking in pins or needles, putting on monitor belts, checking her cervix mid-contraction – any number of things over which mum has no control. Mums who move about freely during labour complain less of back pain. Many authorities feel that the motion of walking and changing positions can even enhance the effectiveness of the contractions, but such active birth is not as possible in the confines of many hospitals. Many use intravenous fluids and electronic foetal monitors to ensure she stays hydrated and to record each contraction and beat of the baby's heart. This all dampens mum's ability to move about and adds to any feelings of claustrophobia.In hospital the tendency is to give birth on your back, though this is often not the best position – the coccyx cannot bend to help the baby's head pass through. There are many other positions – on your hands and knees for example – where you don't have to work against gravity and where the baby's head is not impeded. On your back, pushing is less effective and metal forceps are sometimes used to pull the baby out of the vagina, but forceps are less commonly used when mum assumes a position of comfort during the bearing-down stage.This brings us to the next issue: intervention. The NPEU study of 2011 found that 58% of women in hospital had a natural birth without any intervention, compared to 88% of women at home and 80% of women at a midwife-led unit. Of course, there are frequent occasions when medical technology saves lives, but the likelihood of medical intervention increases in hospitals. I suggest it can actually cause as many problems as it alleviates because it is interruptive. Even routine technology can interrupt the normal birth process. Once derailed from the birthing tracks, it is hard to get back on. Once intervention starts, it's hard to stop. The medical industry is built on providing cures, but if you are a mother giving birth, you are not sick, there is nothing wrong with you, what you are going through is natural and normal. As author Sheila Stubbs writes, ‘the midwife considers the miracle of childbirth as normal, and leaves it alone unless there's trouble. The obstetrician normally sees childbirth as trouble; if he leaves it alone, it's a miracle.'Here are just some of the other interventions that occur. If a mum arrives at hospital and the production of her labour hormones has been interrupted, as can happen as a result of the journey, she will sometimes be given syntocinon, a synthetic version of the hormone oxytocin, which occurs naturally and causes the muscle of the uterus to contract during labour so baby can be pushed out. The dose of syntocinon is increased until contractions are deemed normal. It's sometimes given after birth as well to stimulate the contractions that help push out the placenta and prevent bleeding. But there are allegations that syntocinon increases the risk of baby going into distress, and of mum finding labour too painful and needing an epidural. This is one of the reasons why women also find home-birth less painful.Obstetricians sometimes rupture the bag of waters surrounding the baby in order to speed up the birthing process. This places a time limit on the labour, as the likelihood of a uterine infection increases after the water is broken. Indeed in a hospital – no matter how clean – you are exposed to more pathogens than at home. The rate of post-partum infection to women who give birth in hospital is a terrifying 25%, compared to just 4% in home-birth mothers. Once the protective cushion of water surrounding the baby's head is removed (that is to say, once the waters are broken) there are more possibilities for intervention. A scalp electrode, a tiny probe, might be attached to baby's scalp, to continue monitoring its heart rate and to gather information about its blood.There are these and a whole host of other ‘just in case' interventions in hospital that you just don't meet at home. As childbirth author Margaret Jowitt, says – and here we are back to our theme of Natural Law – ‘Natural childbirth has evolved to suit the species, and if mankind chooses to ignore her advice and interfere with her workings we must not complain about the consequences.'At home, if necessary, in the 1% of cases where serious complications do ensue, you can still be taken to hospital – assuming you live in reasonable distance of one.‘My mother groaned, my father wept,' wrote William Blake, ‘into the dangerous world I leapt.' We come now to the afterbirth. Many new mothers say they physically ache for their babies when they are separated. Nature, it seems, gives new mothers a strong attachment desire, a physical yearning that, if allowed to be satisfied, starts a process with results beneficial to both mother and baby. There are all sorts of natural forces at work, many of which we don't even know about. ‘Incomplete bonding,' on the other hand, in the words of Judith Goldsmith, author of Childbirth Wisdom from the World's Oldest Societies, ‘can lead to confusion, depression, incompetence, and even rejection of the child by the mother.' Yet in hospitals, even today with all we know, the baby is often taken away from the mother for weighing and other tests – or to keep it warm, though there is no warmer place for it that in its mother's arms (nature has planned for skin-to-skin contact).Separation of mother from baby is more likely if some kind of medical intervention or operation has occurred, or if mum is recovering from drugs taken during labour. (Women who have taken drugs in labour also report decreased maternal feelings towards their babies and increased post-natal depression). At home, after birth, baby is not taken from its mother's side unless there is an emergency.As child development author, Joseph Chilton Pearce, writes, ‘Bonding is a psychological-biological state, a vital physical link that coordinates and unifies the entire biological system . . . We are never conscious of being bonded; we are conscious only of our acute disease when we are not bonded.' The breaking of the bond results in higher rates of postpartum depression and child rejection. Nature gives new parents and babies the desire to bond, because bonding is beneficial to our species. Not only does it encourage breastfeeding and speed the recovery of the mother, but the emotional bonding in the magical moments after birth between mother and child, between the entire family, cements the unity of the family. The hospital institution has no such agenda. The cutting of the umbilical cord is another area of contention. Hospitals, say home-birth advocates, cut it too soon. In Birth Without Violence, the classic 1975 text advocating gentle birthing techniques, Frederick Leboyer – also an advocate of bonding and immediate skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby after birth – writes:[Nature] has arranged it so that during the dangerous passage of birth, the child is receiving oxygen from two sources rather than one: from the lungs and from the umbilicus. Two systems functioning simultaneously, one relieving the other: the old one, the umbilicus, continues to supply oxygen to the baby until the new one, the lungs, has fully taken its place. However, once the infant has been born and delivered from the mother, it remains bound to her by this umbilicus, which continues to beat for several long minutes: four, five, sometimes more. Oxygenated by the umbilicus, sheltered from anoxia, the baby can settle into breathing without danger and without shock. In addition, the blood has plenty of time to abandon its old route (which leads to the placenta) and progressively to fill the pulmonary circulatory system. During this time, in parallel fashion, an orifice closes in the heart, which seals off the old route forever. In short, for an average of four or five minutes, the newborn infant straddles two worlds. Drawing oxygen from two sources, it switches gradually from the one to the other, without a brutal transition. One scarcely hears a cry. What is required for this miracle to take place? Only a little patience.Patience is not something you associate with hospital birth. There are simply not the resources, even if, as the sixth US president John Quincy Adams said, ‘patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish'. The arguments to delay the early cutting of the cord (something not as frequent in hospitals as it once was) are that, even though blood going back to the placenta stops flowing – or pulsing – non-pulsing blood going from the placenta into baby is still flowing. After birth, 25–35% of baby's oxygenated blood remains in the placenta for up to ten minutes. With the cord cut early, baby is less likely to receive this blood, making cold stress, infant jaundice, anaemia, Rh disease and even a delayed maternal placental expulsion more likely. There is also the risk of oxygen deprivation and circulatory shock, as baby gasps for breath before his nasal passages have naturally drained their mucus and amniotic fluid. Scientist W. F. Windle has even argued that, starved of blood and oxygen, brain cells will die, so cutting the cord too early even sets the stage for brain damage.Natural birth advocates say it is vital for the baby's feeding to be put to the breast as soon as possible after birth, while his sucking instincts are strongest. Bathing, measuring and temperature-taking can wait. Babies are most alert during the first hour after birth, so it's important to take advantage of this before they settle into that sleepy stage that can last for hours or even days.Colostrum, the yellow fluid that breasts start producing during pregnancy, is nature's first food. is substance performs many roles we know about and probably many we don't as well. Known as ‘baby's first vaccine', it is full of antibodies and protects against many different viruses and bacteria. It has a laxative effect that clears meconium – baby's black and tarry first stool – out of the system. If this isn't done, baby can be vulnerable to jaundice. Colostrum lines baby's stomach ready for its mother's milk, which comes two or three days later, and it meets baby's nutritional needs with a naturally occurring balance of fat, protein and carbohydrate. Again, with the various medical interventions that go on in hospitals, from operations to drug-taking to simply separating mother and baby, this early breast-feeding process can easily be derailed. Once derailed, as I've said, it's often hard to get back on track. I am no scientist and cannot speak with any authority on the science behind it all, but I do know that nature, very often, plans for things that science has yet to discover.Once upon a time, when families lived closer together and people had more children at a younger age, there was an immediate family infrastructure around you. People were experienced with young. If mum was tired, nan or auntie could feed the baby. Many of us are less fortunate in this regard today. With a hospital, you are sent home and, suddenly, you and your partner are on your own with a baby in your life, and very little aftercare. When my first son was born I was 30. I suddenly realized I had only held a baby once before. I was an only child so I had never looked after a younger brother or sister; my cousins, who had had children, lived abroad. Suddenly there was this living thing in my life, and I didn't know what to do. But, having had a home-birth, the midwife, who you already know, can you give you aftercare. She comes and visits, helps with the early breastfeeding process and generally supports and keeps you on the right tracks.It's so important to get the birthing process right. There are all sorts of consequences to our health and happiness to not doing so. And in the West, with the process riddled as it is with intervention, we don't. We need to get birth out of the hospital and into an environment where women experience less pain, lower levels of intervention, greater autonomy and increased satisfaction.A 2011 study by a team from Peking University and the London School of Hygiene found that, of 1.5 million births in China between 1996 and 2008, babies born in hospitals were two to three times less likely to die. China is at a similar stage in its evolutionary cycle to the developed world at the beginning of the 20th century. The move to hospitals there looks inevitable. Something similar is happening in most Developing Nations.In his book A History of Women's Bodies, Edward Shorter quotes a doctor describing a birth in a working-class home in the 1920s:You find a bed that has been slept on by the husband, wife and one or two children; it has frequently been soaked with urine, the sheets are dirty, and the patient's garments are soiled, she has not had a bath. Instead of sterile dressings you have a few old rags or the discharges are allowed to soak into a nightdress which is not changed for days.For comparison, he describes a 1920s hospital birth:The mother lies in a well-aired disinfected room, light and sunlight stream unhindered through a high window and you can make it light as day electrically too. She is well bathed and freshly clothed on linen sheets of blinding whiteness . . . You have a staff of assistants who respond to every signal . . . Only those who have to repair a perineum in a cottars's house in a cottar's bed with the poor light and help at hand can realize the joy.Most homes in the developed world are no longer as he describes, if they ever were, except in slums. It would seem the evolution in the way we give birth as a country develops passes from the home to the hospital. It is time to take it away from the hospital.Why am I spending so much time on birth in a book about economics? The process of giving birth is yet another manifestation of this culture of pervasive state intervention. (Hospitals, of course, are mostly state run.) It's another example of something that feels safer, if provided by the state in a hospital, even if the evidence is to the contrary. And it's another example of the state destroying for so many something that is beautiful and wonderful.What's more, like so many things that are state-run, hospital birth is needlessly expensive. The November 2011 study of 65,000 mothers by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit looked at the average costs of birth in the NHS. They were highest for planned obstetric unit births and lowest for planned home-births. Here they are:* £1,631 (c. $2,600) for a planned birth in an obstetric unit * £1,461 (c. $2,340 for a planned birth in an alongside midwifery unit (AMU)* £1,435 (c. $2,300) for a planned birth in a free-standing midwifery unit (FMU)* £1,067 (c. $1,700) for a planned home-birth.Not only is it as safe; not only are people more satisfied by it; not only do the recipients receive more one-to-one – i.e. better – care; home-birth is also 35% cheaper. Intervention is expensive.So I return to this theme of non-intervention, whether in hospitals or economies. It often looks cruel, callous and hard-hearted; it often looks unsafe, but, counter-intuitively perhaps, in the end it is more human and more humane.When you look at the cost of private birth, the argument for home-birth is even more compelling. Private maternity care is expensive. For example, in summer 2012, a first birth at the Portland Hospital in London costs £2,880 (about $4,400) for a normal delivery and £3,790 (about $5,685) for an elective caesarean and for the first 24 hours of care. Additional nights in a standard room cost around £1,000 (about $1,500). You also have to allow for the fees charged by your private consultant obstetrician, which might be £3,000–£4,000 ($4,500– $6,000). So, in total, a private birth at a hospital such as the Portland could cost £7,500–£10,000 ($10–$15,000). There will be some saving if you opt for a ‘midwife-led delivery service' or ‘midwife-led care'. In this instance, you will still have a named obstetrician, but he or she will see you less often, and the birth may be ‘supported by an on-call Consultant Obstetrician'. London midwives charge £2,500–£4,000 (c. $4–6,000) for about six months of care from early pregnancy to a month after birth. The comparative value is astounding, I would say.To have a planned home-birth on the NHS is possible, but can be problematic to arrange, depending on where you are based. Most people, after they have paid taxes, do not now have the funds to buy a private home-birth, so they are forced into the arms of government health care, such is the cycle at work.I was first introduced to the idea of home-birth by my ex-wife, Louisa, something for which I will forever be grateful. She hated hospitals due to an earlier experience in her life and only found out about alternatives thanks to the internet. I, as well as my friends and family, thought Louisa was insane. But she insisted. And she was right to.Our first son was actually two weeks and six days late. Because he was so late, we were obliged to go to the hospital, which we did, after two weeks and five days. We were kept waiting so long in there, we decided to go and persuaded an overworked nurse that we were fine to go and we left. The confused nurse was glad to have one less thing to think about. The next day Samuel was born: a beautiful and wonderful experience that I will never forget, one of the happiest days of my life – exactly as nature intended.Simply talking to people that have experienced both home-birth and hospital birth, or reading about their experiences, the anecdotal evidence is compelling. Home-birth may not be for everyone – I'm not suggesting it is. Birthing centres seem a good way forward. But a hospital birth should only be for emergencies. Childbirth is a natural process that no longer requires hospitalization, except in those 1% of situations where something goes seriously wrong. If it does go wrong and there is an emergency, call an ambulance and be taken to hospital – that is what they are for.Returning to the original premise of Natural and Positive Law, it's pretty clear which category hospital birth falls into. Hospitals do things in the way that they do because of the pressures they are under, not least the threat of legal action should some procedural failure occur. Taking birth back home and away from the state reduces the burden of us on it and of it on us.Life After the State - Why We Don't Need Government (2013) is now back in print - with the audiobook here: Audible UK, Audible US, Apple Books. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

All four of my children were born at home. I feel extremely fortunate about this - they should too. Four wonderful experiences. I will forever be in debt to Louisa and Jolie.When, twenty-four years ago, my then wife, Louisa, told me she wanted to give birth to our first child at home, I thought she was off her rocker, but I gave her my word that we would at least talk to a midwife, and we did just that. Within about five minutes of meeting Tina Perridge of South London Independent Midwives, a lady of whom I cannot speak highly enough, I was instantly persuaded. Ever since, when I hear that someone is pregnant, I start urging them to have a homebirth with the persistence of a Jehovah's Witness or someone pedalling an upgrade to your current mobile phone subscription. I even included a chapter about it in my first book Life After the State - Why We Don't Need Government (2013), (now, thanks to the invaluable help of my buddy Chris P, back in print - with the audiobook here [Audible UK, Audible US, Apple Books]).I'm publishing that chapter here, something I was previously not able to do (rights issues), because I want as many people as possible to read it. Many people do not even know home-birth is an option. I'm fully aware that, when it comes to giving birth, one of the last people a prospective mum wants to hear advice from is comedian and financial writer, Dominic Frisby. I'm also aware that this is an extremely sensitive subject and that I am treading on eggshells galore. But the word needs to be spread. All I would say is that if you or someone you know is pregnant, have a conversation with an independent midwife, before committing to having your baby in a hospital. It's so important. Please just talk to an independent midwife first. With that said, here is that chapter. Enjoy it, and if you know anyone who is pregnant, please send this to them.We have to use fiat money, we have to pay taxes, most of us are beholden in some way to the education system. These are all things much bigger than us, over which we have little control. The birth of your child, however, is one of the most important experiences of your (and their) life, one where the state so often makes a mess of things, but one where it really is possible to have some control.The State: Looking After Your First BreathThe knowledge of how to give birth without outside interventions lies deep within each woman. Successful childbirth depends on an acceptance of the process.Suzanne Arms, authorThere is no single experience that puts you more in touch with the meaning of life than birth. A birth should be a happy, healthy, wonderful experience for everyone involved. Too often it isn't.Broadly speaking, there are three places a mother can give birth: at home, in hospital or – half-way house – at a birthing centre. Over the course of the 20th century we have moved birth from the home to the hospital. In the UK in the 1920s something like 80% of births took place at home. In the 1960s it was one in three. By 1991 it was 1%. In Japan the home-birth rate was 95% in 1950 falling to 1.2% in 1975. In the US home-birth went from 50% in 1938 to 1% in 1955. In the UK now 2.7% of births take place at home. In Scotland, 1.2% of births take place at home, and in Northern Ireland this drops to fewer than 0.4%. Home-birth is now the anomaly. But for several thousand years, it was the norm.The two key words here are ‘happy' and ‘healthy'. The two tend to come hand in hand. But let's look, first, at ‘healthy'. Let me stress, I am looking at planned homebirth; not a homebirth where mum didn't get to the hospital in time.My initial assumption when I looked at this subject was that hospital would be more healthy. A hospital is full of trained personnel, medicine and medical equipment. My first instinct against home-birth, it turned out, echoed the numerous arguments against it, which come from many parts of the medical establishment. They more or less run along the lines of this statement from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology: ‘Unless a woman is in a hospital, an accredited free-standing birthing centre or a birthing centre within a hospital complex, with physicians ready to intervene quickly if necessary, she puts herself and her baby's health and life at unnecessary risk.'Actually, the risk of death for babies born at home is almost half that of babies born at hospital (0.35 per 1,000 compared to 0.64), according to a 2009 study by the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence reports that mortality rates are the same in booked home-birth as in hospitals. In November 2011 a study of 65,000 mothers by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) was published in the British Medical Journal. The overall rate of negative birth outcomes (death or serious complications) was 4.3 per 1,000 births, with no difference in outcome between non-obstetric and obstetric (hospital) settings. The study did find that the rate of complications rose for first-time mums, 5.3 per 1,000 (0.53%) for hospitals and 9.5 per 1,000 (0.95%) for home-birth. I suspect the number of complications falls with later births because, with experience, the process becomes easier – and because mothers who had problems are less likely to have more children than those who didn't. The Daily Mail managed to twist this into: ‘First-time mothers who opt for home birth face triple the risk of death or brain damage in child.' Don't you just love newspapers? Whether at home or in the hospital there were 250 negative events seen in the study: early neonatal deaths accounted for 13%; brain damage 46%; meconium aspiration syndrome 20%; traumatic nerve damage 4% and fractured bones 4%. Not all of these were treatable.There are so many variables in birth that raw comparative statistics are not always enough. And, without wishing to get into an ethical argument, there are other factors apart from safety. There are things – comfort, happiness, for example – for which people are prepared to sacrifice a little safety. The overriding statistic to take away from that part of the study is that less than 1% of births in the UK, whether at hospital or at home, lead to serious complications.But when you look at rates of satisfaction with their birth experience, the numbers are staggering. According to a 1999 study by Midwifery Today researching women who have experienced both home and hospital birth, over 99% said that they would prefer to have a home-birth in the future!What, then, is so unsatisfying about the hospital birth experience? I'm going to walk through the birthing process now, comparing what goes on at home to hospital. Of course, no two births are the same, no two homes are the same, no two hospitals are the same, but, broadly speaking, it seems women prefer the home-birth experience because: they have more autonomy at home, they suffer less intervention at home and, yes, it appears they actually suffer less pain at home. When mum goes into labour, the journey to the hospital, sometimes rushed, the alien setting when she gets there, the array of doctors and nurses who she may never have met before, but are about to get intimate, can all upset her rhythm and the production of her labour hormones. These aren't always problems, but they have the potential to be; they add to stress and detract from comfort.At home, mum is in a familiar environment, she can get comfortable and settled, go where she likes and do what she likes. Often getting on with something else can take her mind off the pain of the contractions, while in hospital there is little else to focus on. At home, she can choose where she wants to give birth – and she can change her mind, if she likes. She is in her own domain, without someone she doesn't know telling her what she can and can't do. She can change the light, the heating, the music; she can decide exactly who she wants at the birth and who ‘catches' her baby. She can choose what she wants to eat. She will have interviewed and chosen her midwife many months before, and built up a relationship over that time. But in hospitals she is attended by whoever is on duty, she has to eat hospital food, there might be interruptions, doctors' pagers, alarms, screams from next door, whirrs of machinery, tube lighting, overworked, resentful staff to deal with, internal hospital politics, people coming in, waking her up, and checking her vitals, sticking in pins or needles, putting on monitor belts, checking her cervix mid-contraction – any number of things over which mum has no control. Mums who move about freely during labour complain less of back pain. Many authorities feel that the motion of walking and changing positions can even enhance the effectiveness of the contractions, but such active birth is not as possible in the confines of many hospitals. Many use intravenous fluids and electronic foetal monitors to ensure she stays hydrated and to record each contraction and beat of the baby's heart. This all dampens mum's ability to move about and adds to any feelings of claustrophobia.In hospital the tendency is to give birth on your back, though this is often not the best position – the coccyx cannot bend to help the baby's head pass through. There are many other positions – on your hands and knees for example – where you don't have to work against gravity and where the baby's head is not impeded. On your back, pushing is less effective and metal forceps are sometimes used to pull the baby out of the vagina, but forceps are less commonly used when mum assumes a position of comfort during the bearing-down stage.This brings us to the next issue: intervention. The NPEU study of 2011 found that 58% of women in hospital had a natural birth without any intervention, compared to 88% of women at home and 80% of women at a midwife-led unit. Of course, there are frequent occasions when medical technology saves lives, but the likelihood of medical intervention increases in hospitals. I suggest it can actually cause as many problems as it alleviates because it is interruptive. Even routine technology can interrupt the normal birth process. Once derailed from the birthing tracks, it is hard to get back on. Once intervention starts, it's hard to stop. The medical industry is built on providing cures, but if you are a mother giving birth, you are not sick, there is nothing wrong with you, what you are going through is natural and normal. As author Sheila Stubbs writes, ‘the midwife considers the miracle of childbirth as normal, and leaves it alone unless there's trouble. The obstetrician normally sees childbirth as trouble; if he leaves it alone, it's a miracle.'Here are just some of the other interventions that occur. If a mum arrives at hospital and the production of her labour hormones has been interrupted, as can happen as a result of the journey, she will sometimes be given syntocinon, a synthetic version of the hormone oxytocin, which occurs naturally and causes the muscle of the uterus to contract during labour so baby can be pushed out. The dose of syntocinon is increased until contractions are deemed normal. It's sometimes given after birth as well to stimulate the contractions that help push out the placenta and prevent bleeding. But there are allegations that syntocinon increases the risk of baby going into distress, and of mum finding labour too painful and needing an epidural. This is one of the reasons why women also find home-birth less painful.Obstetricians sometimes rupture the bag of waters surrounding the baby in order to speed up the birthing process. This places a time limit on the labour, as the likelihood of a uterine infection increases after the water is broken. Indeed in a hospital – no matter how clean – you are exposed to more pathogens than at home. The rate of post-partum infection to women who give birth in hospital is a terrifying 25%, compared to just 4% in home-birth mothers. Once the protective cushion of water surrounding the baby's head is removed (that is to say, once the waters are broken) there are more possibilities for intervention. A scalp electrode, a tiny probe, might be attached to baby's scalp, to continue monitoring its heart rate and to gather information about its blood.There are these and a whole host of other ‘just in case' interventions in hospital that you just don't meet at home. As childbirth author Margaret Jowitt, says – and here we are back to our theme of Natural Law – ‘Natural childbirth has evolved to suit the species, and if mankind chooses to ignore her advice and interfere with her workings we must not complain about the consequences.'At home, if necessary, in the 1% of cases where serious complications do ensue, you can still be taken to hospital – assuming you live in reasonable distance of one.‘My mother groaned, my father wept,' wrote William Blake, ‘into the dangerous world I leapt.' We come now to the afterbirth. Many new mothers say they physically ache for their babies when they are separated. Nature, it seems, gives new mothers a strong attachment desire, a physical yearning that, if allowed to be satisfied, starts a process with results beneficial to both mother and baby. There are all sorts of natural forces at work, many of which we don't even know about. ‘Incomplete bonding,' on the other hand, in the words of Judith Goldsmith, author of Childbirth Wisdom from the World's Oldest Societies, ‘can lead to confusion, depression, incompetence, and even rejection of the child by the mother.' Yet in hospitals, even today with all we know, the baby is often taken away from the mother for weighing and other tests – or to keep it warm, though there is no warmer place for it that in its mother's arms (nature has planned for skin-to-skin contact).Separation of mother from baby is more likely if some kind of medical intervention or operation has occurred, or if mum is recovering from drugs taken during labour. (Women who have taken drugs in labour also report decreased maternal feelings towards their babies and increased post-natal depression). At home, after birth, baby is not taken from its mother's side unless there is an emergency.As child development author, Joseph Chilton Pearce, writes, ‘Bonding is a psychological-biological state, a vital physical link that coordinates and unifies the entire biological system . . . We are never conscious of being bonded; we are conscious only of our acute disease when we are not bonded.' The breaking of the bond results in higher rates of postpartum depression and child rejection. Nature gives new parents and babies the desire to bond, because bonding is beneficial to our species. Not only does it encourage breastfeeding and speed the recovery of the mother, but the emotional bonding in the magical moments after birth between mother and child, between the entire family, cements the unity of the family. The hospital institution has no such agenda. The cutting of the umbilical cord is another area of contention. Hospitals, say home-birth advocates, cut it too soon. In Birth Without Violence, the classic 1975 text advocating gentle birthing techniques, Frederick Leboyer – also an advocate of bonding and immediate skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby after birth – writes:[Nature] has arranged it so that during the dangerous passage of birth, the child is receiving oxygen from two sources rather than one: from the lungs and from the umbilicus. Two systems functioning simultaneously, one relieving the other: the old one, the umbilicus, continues to supply oxygen to the baby until the new one, the lungs, has fully taken its place. However, once the infant has been born and delivered from the mother, it remains bound to her by this umbilicus, which continues to beat for several long minutes: four, five, sometimes more. Oxygenated by the umbilicus, sheltered from anoxia, the baby can settle into breathing without danger and without shock. In addition, the blood has plenty of time to abandon its old route (which leads to the placenta) and progressively to fill the pulmonary circulatory system. During this time, in parallel fashion, an orifice closes in the heart, which seals off the old route forever. In short, for an average of four or five minutes, the newborn infant straddles two worlds. Drawing oxygen from two sources, it switches gradually from the one to the other, without a brutal transition. One scarcely hears a cry. What is required for this miracle to take place? Only a little patience.Patience is not something you associate with hospital birth. There are simply not the resources, even if, as the sixth US president John Quincy Adams said, ‘patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish'. The arguments to delay the early cutting of the cord (something not as frequent in hospitals as it once was) are that, even though blood going back to the placenta stops flowing – or pulsing – non-pulsing blood going from the placenta into baby is still flowing. After birth, 25–35% of baby's oxygenated blood remains in the placenta for up to ten minutes. With the cord cut early, baby is less likely to receive this blood, making cold stress, infant jaundice, anaemia, Rh disease and even a delayed maternal placental expulsion more likely. There is also the risk of oxygen deprivation and circulatory shock, as baby gasps for breath before his nasal passages have naturally drained their mucus and amniotic fluid. Scientist W. F. Windle has even argued that, starved of blood and oxygen, brain cells will die, so cutting the cord too early even sets the stage for brain damage.Natural birth advocates say it is vital for the baby's feeding to be put to the breast as soon as possible after birth, while his sucking instincts are strongest. Bathing, measuring and temperature-taking can wait. Babies are most alert during the first hour after birth, so it's important to take advantage of this before they settle into that sleepy stage that can last for hours or even days.Colostrum, the yellow fluid that breasts start producing during pregnancy, is nature's first food. is substance performs many roles we know about and probably many we don't as well. Known as ‘baby's first vaccine', it is full of antibodies and protects against many different viruses and bacteria. It has a laxative effect that clears meconium – baby's black and tarry first stool – out of the system. If this isn't done, baby can be vulnerable to jaundice. Colostrum lines baby's stomach ready for its mother's milk, which comes two or three days later, and it meets baby's nutritional needs with a naturally occurring balance of fat, protein and carbohydrate. Again, with the various medical interventions that go on in hospitals, from operations to drug-taking to simply separating mother and baby, this early breast-feeding process can easily be derailed. Once derailed, as I've said, it's often hard to get back on track. I am no scientist and cannot speak with any authority on the science behind it all, but I do know that nature, very often, plans for things that science has yet to discover.Once upon a time, when families lived closer together and people had more children at a younger age, there was an immediate family infrastructure around you. People were experienced with young. If mum was tired, nan or auntie could feed the baby. Many of us are less fortunate in this regard today. With a hospital, you are sent home and, suddenly, you and your partner are on your own with a baby in your life, and very little aftercare. When my first son was born I was 30. I suddenly realized I had only held a baby once before. I was an only child so I had never looked after a younger brother or sister; my cousins, who had had children, lived abroad. Suddenly there was this living thing in my life, and I didn't know what to do. But, having had a home-birth, the midwife, who you already know, can you give you aftercare. She comes and visits, helps with the early breastfeeding process and generally supports and keeps you on the right tracks.It's so important to get the birthing process right. There are all sorts of consequences to our health and happiness to not doing so. And in the West, with the process riddled as it is with intervention, we don't. We need to get birth out of the hospital and into an environment where women experience less pain, lower levels of intervention, greater autonomy and increased satisfaction.A 2011 study by a team from Peking University and the London School of Hygiene found that, of 1.5 million births in China between 1996 and 2008, babies born in hospitals were two to three times less likely to die. China is at a similar stage in its evolutionary cycle to the developed world at the beginning of the 20th century. The move to hospitals there looks inevitable. Something similar is happening in most Developing Nations.In his book A History of Women's Bodies, Edward Shorter quotes a doctor describing a birth in a working-class home in the 1920s:You find a bed that has been slept on by the husband, wife and one or two children; it has frequently been soaked with urine, the sheets are dirty, and the patient's garments are soiled, she has not had a bath. Instead of sterile dressings you have a few old rags or the discharges are allowed to soak into a nightdress which is not changed for days.For comparison, he describes a 1920s hospital birth:The mother lies in a well-aired disinfected room, light and sunlight stream unhindered through a high window and you can make it light as day electrically too. She is well bathed and freshly clothed on linen sheets of blinding whiteness . . . You have a staff of assistants who respond to every signal . . . Only those who have to repair a perineum in a cottars's house in a cottar's bed with the poor light and help at hand can realize the joy.Most homes in the developed world are no longer as he describes, if they ever were, except in slums. It would seem the evolution in the way we give birth as a country develops passes from the home to the hospital. It is time to take it away from the hospital.Why am I spending so much time on birth in a book about economics? The process of giving birth is yet another manifestation of this culture of pervasive state intervention. (Hospitals, of course, are mostly state run.) It's another example of something that feels safer, if provided by the state in a hospital, even if the evidence is to the contrary. And it's another example of the state destroying for so many something that is beautiful and wonderful.What's more, like so many things that are state-run, hospital birth is needlessly expensive. The November 2011 study of 65,000 mothers by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit looked at the average costs of birth in the NHS. They were highest for planned obstetric unit births and lowest for planned home-births. Here they are:* £1,631 (c. $2,600) for a planned birth in an obstetric unit * £1,461 (c. $2,340 for a planned birth in an alongside midwifery unit (AMU)* £1,435 (c. $2,300) for a planned birth in a free-standing midwifery unit (FMU)* £1,067 (c. $1,700) for a planned home-birth.Not only is it as safe; not only are people more satisfied by it; not only do the recipients receive more one-to-one – i.e. better – care; home-birth is also 35% cheaper. Intervention is expensive.So I return to this theme of non-intervention, whether in hospitals or economies. It often looks cruel, callous and hard-hearted; it often looks unsafe, but, counter-intuitively perhaps, in the end it is more human and more humane.When you look at the cost of private birth, the argument for home-birth is even more compelling. Private maternity care is expensive. For example, in summer 2012, a first birth at the Portland Hospital in London costs £2,880 (about $4,400) for a normal delivery and £3,790 (about $5,685) for an elective caesarean and for the first 24 hours of care. Additional nights in a standard room cost around £1,000 (about $1,500). You also have to allow for the fees charged by your private consultant obstetrician, which might be £3,000–£4,000 ($4,500– $6,000). So, in total, a private birth at a hospital such as the Portland could cost £7,500–£10,000 ($10–$15,000). There will be some saving if you opt for a ‘midwife-led delivery service' or ‘midwife-led care'. In this instance, you will still have a named obstetrician, but he or she will see you less often, and the birth may be ‘supported by an on-call Consultant Obstetrician'. London midwives charge £2,500–£4,000 (c. $4–6,000) for about six months of care from early pregnancy to a month after birth. The comparative value is astounding, I would say.To have a planned home-birth on the NHS is possible, but can be problematic to arrange, depending on where you are based. Most people, after they have paid taxes, do not now have the funds to buy a private home-birth, so they are forced into the arms of government health care, such is the cycle at work.I was first introduced to the idea of home-birth by my ex-wife, Louisa, something for which I will forever be grateful. She hated hospitals due to an earlier experience in her life and only found out about alternatives thanks to the internet. I, as well as my friends and family, thought Louisa was insane. But she insisted. And she was right to.Our first son was actually two weeks and six days late. Because he was so late, we were obliged to go to the hospital, which we did, after two weeks and five days. We were kept waiting so long in there, we decided to go and persuaded an overworked nurse that we were fine to go and we left. The confused nurse was glad to have one less thing to think about. The next day Samuel was born: a beautiful and wonderful experience that I will never forget, one of the happiest days of my life – exactly as nature intended.Simply talking to people that have experienced both home-birth and hospital birth, or reading about their experiences, the anecdotal evidence is compelling. Home-birth may not be for everyone – I'm not suggesting it is. Birthing centres seem a good way forward. But a hospital birth should only be for emergencies. Childbirth is a natural process that no longer requires hospitalization, except in those 1% of situations where something goes seriously wrong. If it does go wrong and there is an emergency, call an ambulance and be taken to hospital – that is what they are for.Returning to the original premise of Natural and Positive Law, it's pretty clear which category hospital birth falls into. Hospitals do things in the way that they do because of the pressures they are under, not least the threat of legal action should some procedural failure occur. Taking birth back home and away from the state reduces the burden of us on it and of it on us.Life After the State - Why We Don't Need Government (2013) is now back in print - with the audiobook here: Audible UK, Audible US, Apple Books. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

Today on the show I speak to the phenomenal Gloria Le May. Gloria is a ex-midwife turned birth attendant after the Canadian government co-opted the word in 1998. Gloria starts by telling us of her own birth story and how she gave up her daughter for adoption when she was 17. Later she met her husband who was a physician and was a stockbroker herself. She never thought she would get into birth work, but how wrong she was. When she had her second daughter - she looked for the ‘best obstetrician' and when none of them would meet her very basic requests, she sort help from a dutch midwife and had her baby at home. From then, there was no going back. Gloria since then has spent most of her time in birth work and talks us through her career including the very public court cases and 2 months in jail due to the witch hunt for midwives in Canada. If there ever was a picture of integrity - Gloria is it. She walks her talk and has so much wisdom to impart to us all. We end by talking about how she has changed over the years as a birth worker and where she sees birth heading in the future. Gloria is so much fun to talk to and I love how bold and brash she is - just what we need in the world right now!  Bio:  Gloria is an author, teacher and grandmother. She has worked in the childbirth field for the past 40 years, (17 of those as a midwife) and has had experience with over 1500 births. Gloria's film “Birth with Gloria Lemay” has sold over a thousand copies. Gloria has written many articles and has been published in Midwifery Today magazine and she is a popular online blogger at www.wisewomanwayofbirth.com. Gloria is a passionate advocate for the bodily integrity of boys and girls. She lives in Canada and travels all over North America in her role as a teacher and speak

Este episodio se transmitió por primera vez en 19 de agosto del 2019, donde nos acompaña Carmen Cabrer, IBCLC, para una conversación acerca del hostigamiento y marginación dentro del campo de la lactancia profesional. Durante el programa les prometí compartir esta información. Estudio nuevo que muestra que la ayuda cibernética está llenando vacíos (aunque como yo digo, hay grupos y hay grupitos) y pudieran ayudar a la lactancia prolongada. Notable es que el estudio se hizo co madres negras, que tienen mayores barreras e lograr su lactancia extendida https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6560800/ Y el artículo de 4 series Midwifery Today de Marinah Valenzuela https://midwiferytoday.com/mt-articles/bullying/ https://midwiferytoday.com/mt-articles/who-is-the-bully/ https://midwiferytoday.com/mt-articles/target-bully-effects-ptsd/ https://midwiferytoday.com/mt-articles/finding-better-solutions-end-bullying/ Es específico a la partería pero relevante a todo campo de derechos reproductivos

Have you heard or thought that embracing ecstatic birth through body connection and pleasure is too good to be true? What if that's a myth? In this episode, Shayla Kamara Hay shares her journey of trauma healing and pregnancy that ended up in the discovery of a beautiful truth: a woman's body is capable of pleasure, ecstasy, and even transcendence during childbirth. Sheila is a MA, VITA certified trauma informed, somatic female sexuality and empowerment coach and the founder of Ecstatic Birth. She specializes in an integrative approach to sexuality and pleasure to support her clients in releasing blocks, feeling more, and opening to their fullest sexual expression- whether single, partnered, mothering or going through menopause. Sheila's work is centered around the conviction that the free flow of sexual energy is paramount to our vitality and wellness at every stage and age. A recognized visionary in childbirth education, Sheila has brought sexuality and pleasure to the forefront of birth preparation and support. She lives in Sands Point with her husband, 3 kids, dog and cats where she enjoys being immersed in the beauty of nature and having easy access to all NYC has to offer. Despite having experienced a traumatic birth when her first child was born, Sheila was able to uncover a powerful pathway to positive birth experiences. What she found was something far more extraordinary than she expected, childbirth can be a powerful, pleasurable, and expansive experience. Now she shares her knowledge with other people who are seeking to change their narrative of what childbirth is. In her Ecstatic Birth practice over the past 15 years, Sheila has empowered women, families and health care practitioners around the globe to elevate the experience of childbirth from pain to pleasure through body-based education and training programs, certifying Ecstatic Birth Practitioners™ in over 26+ countries. Sheila is a sought after speaker, advocate, teacher and writer, featured at Mama Gena's School of Womanly Arts, Orgasmic Birth's Pain to Power program, Midwifery Today, the En*theos Academy, the Birth Institute, Huffington Post, and numerous other conferences, podcasts and publications. Sheila received her BA from Yale and an MA from Columbia University. Tune in to listen to this conversation, but mind you, what you'll hear could change your idea of childbirth forever. In this episode: The transformative power of ecstatic birth through developing a deep body connection and embracing pleasure. The importance of sexual healing and releasing trauma during childbirth preparation. Overcoming negative birth experiences to find closure, and even empowerment in future experiences. Positive birth experiences contribute to a broader systemic transformation. Let's connect! Come join me and like-minded women in my FREE women-only, sex-positive community – Pleasure Rebels Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/plsrebels Follow and reach out on IG: https://www.instagram.com/erikaalsborn Links and Resources Read the blog: Want to have an orgasmic birth https://www.erikaalsborn.com/blog/want-to-have-an-orgasmic-birth Free Masterclass https://ecstatic-birth.com/essential-keys-live/ Sheila's website: http://ecstatic-birth.com/ Sheila's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecstaticbirth/ Related Episodes 27: A quickie on motherhood and being sexual! You can also listen to this episode and access the information, resources, and links mentioned in this episode here: https://www.erikaalsborn.com/podcast/52

Nora Pope, FCP & Dr. Jessica Liu, ND are fertility experts with a mission to teach healthcare professionals about the power of Cycle Charting to time ultrasounds, blood tests and treatments to restore fertility and health. The energy and knowledge they bring to this episode is outstanding!  Nora Jane Pope, FCP is a retired Naturopathic Doctor and Creighton Model FertilityCare Practitioner with a private practice in Toronto from 2002-19.  She is the creator of “Cycle Charting: The Key to Fertility” CE Seminars.   Along with Dr Jessica Liu, ND, she is co-creating the 2021 Healthcare Professional Continuing Education webinar “Cycle Charting, Progesterone HRT and Fertility Enhancement”. Nora is a highly sought-after public speaker and since 2003, Nora Pope has educated physicians, midwives, pharmacists, and health experts on the scientific use of natural medicines. She is published in several journals including NDNR and Midwifery Today. Dr. Jessica Liu ND is a Naturopathic Doctor, with over 16 years of expertise and clinical excellence in the field of fertility, women's health and pregnancy care.  With an extensive background in natural reproductive medicine, Dr. Liu has helped hundreds of families conceive healthy babies, both naturally and with assisted reproductive techniques such as IUI or IVF. Her program, “Creating Vibrant Fertility” has a particular focus in supporting women to move through the emotional trauma of sub-fertility and pregnancy loss in order to awaken their optimal fertility potential. She is published in Seed Science Research and has lectured as a speaker at the Canadian Fertility Show. Here's what you can expect in this episode: How Nora Pope got interested in Cycle Charting  Fertility doesn't necessarily mean making babies, it's women's health Dr. Jessica's personal story and struggles with her health Honoring and normalizing menstrual cycle What is cycle charting? Why you should be checking in with your body? 3 months of cycle charting and fertility awareness can increase chance of successful conception up to 90% How cycle charting can help with anxiety, depression, PTSD The relationship between IVF and PTSD How stress impacts fertility and infertility Mitigating the obstacles to cure for fertility Stay connected with them: www.fertilityCE.com Instagram: @fertility.ce Facebook: @fertility.ce   Dr. Nicole Cain, ND MA is a nationally renown expert on beating anxiety. She has been published by Salon Magazine, Well + Good, the Arizona Republic, PESI, NDNR, SCNM, The Institute for Natural Medicine, Thrive Global, and Women's Lifestyle Magazine. She has been quoted in Forbes. Dr. Cain wants to give away 9 Free Resources to help listeners: 1. Take the 1 Week Anxiety Freedom Challenge (Videos and Workbook! FREE!) 2. Anxiety Freedom Master Class Webinar  (On Demand Webinar! FREE!) 3. Three Minute Hack for Anxiety Webinar (On Demand Webinar! FREE!) 4. Get your FREE copy of the Anxiety Breakthrough Wellness Springboard (FREE E-BOOK!) 5. Follow Dr. Nicole Cain on Instagram Wednesdays 3pm EST and 12noon PT (Weekly Live Talks!) 6. Join the Anxiety Freedom 1 Week Challenge Facebook Group For Community (Free FB Community!) 7. Subscribe to The Get Your Life Back Podcast with Dr. Nicole Cain (Free Podcast!) 8. You can join her Email List by visiting: www.Drnicolecain.com    (Free Information!) 9. Subscribe to Dr. Nicole Cain's YouTube Channel for new videos weekly! (Free Videos!) Current Available On-Demand Courses:  (Which include Video Instruction + an E-Book)! The Anxiety Breakthrough Program Gut Health Course Medication Tapering Course Vagus Nerve Reset Program Natural Solutions for Bipolar Disorder Course Natural Solutions for Depression Course Liver Health Course High Libido Life (For Women) Follow Dr. Nicole Cain, ND MA on: Facebook  Instagram YouTube Linkedin DrNicoleCain.com Get Connected: Join the Anxiety Freedom 1 Week Challenge Facebook Group For Community   Dr. Nicole Cain, ND MA is the only Naturopathic Doctor that also has a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology with an expertise in natural and integrative solutions for anxiety, bipolar disorder, women's libido issues, depression, PTSD, and other conditions. If you are searching for a fundamentally unique method of getting to the root cause of your suffering and working toward transformation, then connecting Dr. Nicole Cain, ND MA is for you.   Disclaimer: This podcast was created by Dr. Nicole Cain, ND, MA for educational purposes only. These are the opinions of Dr. Nicole Cain, ND, MA and should not be taken as the “definitive opinion” or “absolute medical opinion” on any subject. This podcast is not a substitute for medical, psychological, counseling or any other sort of professional care. Consumption of these materials is for your own education and any medical, psychological, or professional care decisions should be made between you and your primary care doctor or another provider that you are engaged with.  

Sophia reads a Midwifery Today article titled "A Provider Who Cannot Provide" written by Midwife Judy Fisher and Lea and Emma join for discussion. Article: https://midwiferytoday.com/mt-articles/a-provider-who-cannot-provide/#enews2343

Join The HA Societyhttp://thehasociety.com/joinQUIZ: How long will it take to get your period back?!http://quiz.thehasociety.comNora Jane Pope, FCP is a retired Naturopathic Doctor and Creighton Model FertilityCare Practitioner with a private practice in Toronto from 2002-19. She is the creator of “Cycle Charting: The Key to Fertility” CE Seminars.  Along with Dr Jessica Liu, ND, she is co-creating the 2021 Healthcare Professional Continuing Education webinar “Cycle Charting, Progesterone HRT and Fertility Enhancement”.Nora is a highly sought-after public speaker and since 2003, Nora Pope has educated physicians, midwives, pharmacists, and health experts on the scientific use of natural medicines.She is published in several journals including NDNR and Midwifery Today.In this conversation we talk about:- Important biomarkers of Cycle Charting: red flow, white flow, post peak phase and how this correlates to hypothalamic and pituitary activity. What would the chart show in patients with hypothalamic amenorrhea?! - Timing of progesterone & estrogen blood tests in sync with a woman's individual cycle- Important clinical uses for Progesterone BHRT in amenorrhea patients- Use of ethical, low-dose pharmaceutical agents timed in sync with the woman's cycle, with the goal of restoring her health and reproductive cyclesFind a fertility consultant: https://fertilitycare.orgLearn more about Nora and Fertility CE: https://fertilityce.comLearn more about this showhttp://hapodcast.comFollow us on IGhttp://instagram.com/thehapodcastThe Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-hypothalamic-amenorrhea-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nathan and Maryn reflect on the decision making bodies at conferences like Midwifery Today and how they approach this global issue of conformity and compliance. To each their own, but support of the mainstream narrative ... Read more The post Episode 14: On Compliance appeared first on the one about the Midwife and the OB.

Dr. Rixa Freeze has a PhD in American Studies from the University of Iowa. Her doctoral studies focused on the history of healthcare and medicine with specialization in pregnancy, childbirth, and maternity care. Her dissertation examined why women in North America choose unassisted home births. She worked as a visiting assistant professor for 9 years at Wabash college. She has published two articles about home birth: “Staying Home to Give Birth: Why Women in the United States Choose Home Birth” (JMWH 2009) and “Attitudes Towards Home Birth in the USA” (Expert Review of Obstetrics & Gynecology 2010). She recently published the article “Breech birth at home: Outcomes of 60 breech and 109 cephalic planned home and birth center births” with BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth. In 2019 she published an article about outcomes of breech at home, birth centers, and hospitals (Midwifery Today) and a book chapter “Freebirth in the United States” in the 2020 book Canary in the Coal Mine. She is the founder and president of Breech Without Borders, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to breech training, education, and advocacy. What three things does Rixa Freeze want the world to know about caring for women? - Be intentional with your birth plan - Spend time w/ the “other” - There's freedom to knowing less (especially in birth) Connect with Rixa: When Your Lawyer is Your Doula, essay by Hermine Hayes-Klein Rixa's sample birth plans Rixa's biodynamism essay Rixa's blog Breech Without Borders Find Rixa on Facebook DONATE HERE Full show notes available at www.BelovedHolistics.com Music by: Labrinth, Chancha Via Circuito, and Joaquín Cornejo --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theholisticobgyn/message

Liz is an international teacher and author with 43 years of experience working with and specializing in the psoas. Educating both laypersons and professionals around the world, Liz is recognized by colleagues in the movement, wellness, and fitness professions as an authority on the “core muscle” of the human body. Stalking Wild Psoas is her passion and changing the language of body is her mission. Liz Koch is the creator of Core Awareness,™ a somatic approach to deepening the experience of the human core. Beginning with the core muscle, the psoas, Core Awareness™ focuses attention on sensation as a means for maturing and developing the proprioceptive nervous system, which is responsible for skeletal alignment, balance, and orientation. Liz is the author of The Psoas Book; Core Awareness: Enhancing Yoga, Pilates, Exercise & Dance; Unraveling Scoliosis CD; The Psoas & Back Pain CD; and she is a contributing author to Maiden, Mother, Crone: Our Pleasure Playlist and Stalking Wild Psoas: Embodying Your Core Intelligence. Her writing has been featured in Yoga Journal, Positive Health, Massage & Bodywork, Massage Magazine, Yoga & Health International, Midwifery Today, Vegetarian Times, and The Doula as well as numerous small health and wellness publications. Liz Koch is approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) as a continuing education Approved Provider. The psoas is considered such an unknown muscle yet so important and powerful. Liz first discovered the psoas while attending a human potential class in Boston over 45 years ago. At that particular moment, the teacher, Robert Cooley, was fascinated with the psoas muscle. Having previously been a dancer, he was exploring how injuries and a lack of movement might be tracked back to the midline or core issues expressed in the iliopsoas complex. Between Liz's in-depth inquiry and Bob's encouragement, she eventually shifted my career from being a conceptual artist and sculpture instructor at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts to the healing arts profession. While working with her psoas, Liz discovered that she had released years of back pain and emotional distress which awoke within her a deep sense of pleasure. She became passionate that people should know what an extraordinary role the psoas plays in recovering health and gaining a sense of wholeness. When she moved to California in the 1970s, her personal explorations of the psoas catapulted her into her current profession. She began by teaching courses on the psoas muscle for local community colleges, dance departments, and massage school programs. Her vocation not only evolved throughout the years but also expanded into wider spheres of influence which included being a keynote speaker at two international conferences as well as teaching both national and international workshops and retreats. What began as a personal journey has continued as the psoas is no ordinary tissue, but a profound segway into the rich interior and exterior world of awareness.  

Nora Pope is a Fertility Awareness advocate and looks forward to the day when all women attain fertility literacy and know when they are fertile. In 2020, Nora Pope co-founded Fertility Continuing Education, an organization that creates accredited post-graduate courses in the fields of fertility awareness, restorative fertility treatment and perinatal care for healthcare professionals. Her publications include naturopathic treatments for epilepsy (Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Epilepsy), neurology, perinatal care, how to collaborate with other health care professionals, and cycle charting for several Naturopathic (“Day 21 No More: how to chart your cycle for the properly timed use of Progesterone HRT”, NDNR) and Midwifery publications Midwifery Today.) She is a popular public speaker and, since 2003, Nora has been educating physicians, midwives, pharmacists, and health experts on the scientific use of natural medicines. At professional healthcare conferences, she has presented on drug-herb interactions, epilepsy, pregnancy, bio-identical progesterone HRT and fertility cycle charting. And in today’s episode we talk about using the menstrual cycle as a vital sign for medical testing and much more! If you’re wanting to learn even more, join us on Wednesday February 17th for a LIVE class all about incorporating fertility awareness into your professional practice! Follow this link to register today! Today’s episode is sponsored by the Fertility Awareness Mastery Mentorship Program!  We start the first week of March! For details and to apply now Click here to register now! Topics discussed in today's episode: What Nora is doing now in her career and what brought her to focus on combining charting with clinical practice Challenges on teaching charting and fertility awareness for a medical professional Nora’s charting and fertility awareness training experience and the benefits How the additional part of Nora’s training changed her medical practice How does charting help to identify progesterone issues or hormonal imbalances Suggestions on how to get your progesterone levels back to normal Ways to support the body to produce healthier follicles using the naturopathic approach Different phases of the menstrual cycle using the acupuncture method How epilepsy is related to the cycle Importance of charting with a certified charting specialist Importance of normal levels of progesterone Connect with Nora: You can connect with Nora on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and on her website. Resources mentioned: Cycle Charting, Progesterone HRT and Fertility Enhancement Program The Fifth Vital Sign: Master Your Cycles & Optimize Your Fertility (Book) | Lisa Hendrickson-Jack Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook Fertility Awareness Mastery Online Self-Study Program Related podcasts & blog posts: [On-Air Client Session] FFP 345 | Understanding Your Fifth Vital Sign | Lisa & Grace [On-Air Client Session] FFP 319 | Her Period Saved Her Life | The Fifth Vital Sign | Fertility Awareness For Birth Control | Lisa & Michelle [On-Air Client Session] FFP 169 | The Menstrual Cycle as a Diagnostic Tool | Sarah & Lisa FFP 106 | What You Need To Know About Progesterone and Pregnancy | Using Your Cycle To Time Hormone Testing | Fertility Awareness Method | Nora Pope FFP 071 | Connecting With the Wisdom of Your Menstrual Cycle | Fertility Massage Therapy | Clare Blake FFP 055 | Menstrual Cycle Health | Why Regular Ovulation is Essential for Bone, Heart and Breast Health | Dr. Jerilynn Prior FFP 036 | Increasing Body Literacy with Fertility Awareness | Health Benefits of Regular Ovulation | Feminism and The Pill | Laura Wershler FFP 014 | What does a Healthy Menstrual Cycle look like? | The Menstrual Cycle as the 5th Vital Sign | Colleen Flowers     Join the community! Find us in the Fertility Friday Facebook Group. Subscribe to the Fertility Friday Podcast in Apple Podcasts! Music Credit: Intro/Outro music Produced by J-Gantic A Special Thank You to Our Show Sponsors: Fertility Friday | Fertility Awareness Programs This episode is sponsored by my Fertility Awareness Programs! Master Fertility Awareness and take a deep dive into your cycles and how they relate to your overall health! Click here to apply now! The Fertility Awareness Charting Workbook This episode is sponsored by my new book the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting. Click here to buy now.

Amy Haas was born outside of Boston in Massachusetts, Grew up in Louisiana and Long Island and Plattsburgh. And currently lives in Rochester, New York with her husband Fred and her mother. Amy and Fred have 2 adult children, Ian and Dylan. Amy has been a childbirth educator, writer, consultant & lecturer in the field of pregnancy and birth. She has a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Plattsburgh State University of New York and certification as a paralegal from Adelphi University in New York. Amy was trained and certified as a Bradley Method® Childbirth Educator in 1995. Amy studied with and assisted Dr. Tom Brewer, the developer of the Brewer Pregnancy diet, and she continues his work through pregnancy nutrition counselling. She often writes on the topic for Midwifery Today. Amy is also the owner of Healthy Birth of Rochester. Show Notes: Bradley Childbirth Method: http://www.bradleybirth.com/ Dr. Tom Brewer: http://healthybirth.net/an-interview-with-dr-tom-brewer/ Brewer Eating Plan: http://www.drbrewerpregnancydiet.com/ Midwife Anne Frye: https://midwiferytoday.com/speakers/anne-frye/ Midwifery Today: https://midwiferytoday.com/ Lily Nichols Podcast Episode: https://www.fxmedicine.com.au/podcast/nutritional-strategies-gestational-diabetes-lily-nichols?fbclid=IwAR281HaA9MZI-m9hy7mZCXpz_441ZBXWyxONVlgqoNe7TtMLkNjLp1y69Bo Connect with Amy: Healthy Birth Rochester: http://healthybirth.net/ Untaming Contact: FB: https://www.facebook.com/Untaming-396582437559159/ IG: @untaming_podcast Twitter: @UntamingP Email: untaming.podcast@gmail.com https://anchor.fm/emily033

Esta semana nos acompaña Carmen Cabrer, IBCLC, para una conversación acerca del hostigamiento y marginación dentro del campo de la lactancia profesional. Durante el programa les prometí compartir esta información. Estudio nuevo que muestra que la ayuda cibernética está llenando vacíos (aunque como yo digo, hay grupos y hay grupitos) y pudieran ayudar a la lactancia prolongada. Notable es que el estudio se hizo co madres negras, que tienen mayores barreras e lograr su lactancia extendida https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6560800/ Y el artículo de 4 series Midwifery Today de Marinah Valenzuela https://midwiferytoday.com/mt-articles/bullying/ https://midwiferytoday.com/mt-articles/who-is-the-bully/ https://midwiferytoday.com/mt-articles/target-bully-effects-ptsd/ https://midwiferytoday.com/mt-articles/finding-better-solutions-end-bullying/ Es específico a la partería pero relevante a todo campo de derechos reproductivos

In the wake of the Midwifery Today's decision to have their conference at a christian venue which openly excludes LGBTQ++ community, The Pragmatic Doulas discuss this decision and they get quite fired up about the whole situation.  

Over 30% of pregnant parents have their labours synthetically induced and that number is rising steadily each year. Induction of labour is used for situations such as a diagnosis of gestational diabetes, suspected big babies, over-due pregnancies and growth restricted babies.As the rate of this intervention increases, Dr Rachel Reed, midwife and academic from the Univ. of the Sunshine Coast believes it is worth some close examination to make sure we're getting the best possible outcomes from it. Rachel discusses the risks, how it works, what can help a woman's decision making process and how she can 'own' her induction should she choose it.Rachel has recently published a book "Why Induction Matters".Interview recorded on 24 July 2019.Rachel also mentions the UK's NICE Guidelines on how women should be informed of the risks of induction, which is a useful guidance for any family and health service to follow. https://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/induction-of-labourWe also hear briefly from Dr Sarah Buckley about the physiology required for induction to work (recorded at the Midwifery Today conference 2014).Produced and presented by Sally CusackCopyright PBB Media and Sally Cusack 2019www.pbbmedia.orgOur thanks to Dr Rachel Reed and Dr Sarah BuckleyFirst aired on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay Australia on 29 July 2019.

Over 30% of pregnant parents have their labours synthetically induced and that number is rising steadily each year. Induction of labour is used for situations such as a diagnosis of gestational diabetes, suspected big babies, over-due pregnancies and growth restricted babies.As the rate of this intervention increases, Dr Rachel Reed, midwife and academic from the Univ. of the Sunshine Coast believes it is worth some close examination to make sure we're getting the best possible outcomes from it. Rachel discusses the risks, how it works, what can help a woman's decision making process and how she can 'own' her induction should she choose it.Rachel has recently published a book "Why Induction Matters".Interview recorded on 24 July 2019.Rachel also mentions the UK's NICE Guidelines on how women should be informed of the risks of induction, which is a useful guidance for any family and health service to follow. https://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/induction-of-labourWe also hear briefly from Dr Sarah Buckley about the physiology required for induction to work (recorded at the Midwifery Today conference 2014).Produced and presented by Sally CusackCopyright PBB Media and Sally Cusack 2019www.pbbmedia.orgOur thanks to Dr Rachel Reed and Dr Sarah BuckleyFirst aired on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay Australia on 29 July 2019.

Through untold eons mammals have evolved a beautiful birth-giving physiology based around a complex cascade of hormones that are released during labor. We give both mother and baby the best chance at a peaceful, ecstatic birth and postpartum period when we remember and respect this ancient dance. IN THE INTRO: Complex parenting topics: sleep, immunity, birth IN THE INTERVIEW: Sarah’s mainstream doctor grandfather and how she got interested in natural birth The exquisitely designed ancestral/mammalian hormonal blueprint of labor  The impact of (unnatural, external) stress on a laboring woman and how it disrupts the optimal hormonal flow Creating optimal conditions for birthing and for bonding The hormonal consequences of bypassing the natural physiological onset of labor (such as by induction or scheduled C-section) How feeling unsafe (at a subconscious, limbic system level) disrupts the flow of birth The irony of how we treat animals in labor v how we treat human women in labor The ecstatic, altered state of mind we enter into during labor  What first time mothers need to know but are often not told Fear and mystery in birth The body is designed to transcend the (natural, intrinsic) stress and pain of labor and they play a critical role in bonding The role of vocalization in labor Newborns need placental blood: cord clamping and how our cultural beliefs around that have changed over time What “No hatting, no patting, no chatting” means for the postpartum period Ancestral family sleep and motherbaby biological regulation: the many reasons that co-sleeping is best for babies and the science that backs it up The fascinating phenomenon of some birth attendants being able to smell the moment before the baby is born LINKS Dr. Buckley’s website Dr. Buckley on Facebook Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering book Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing report Medicine Stories Podcast Episode 30: The Innate Intelligence of the Immune System with Cilla Whatcott Medicine Stories Podcast Episode 48: Matriarchy in Action & Ancestor Assisted Birth with Emilee Saldaya Jeanine Parvati Baker CO-SLEEPING RESEARCH- James McKenna’s Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre-Dame Sara Wichkam’s website Midwifery Today’s website  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

An article from Midwifery Today sited a study concluding “Participants who read positive, empowering birth stories reported an average of 33% less fear about their upcoming birth.” That great increase in personal confidence was the reason I decided to continue to share positive community birth stories on Yoga | Birth | Babies. In this episode I speak with second time community member, Lauren Seidman. Lauren opens up about her two very different pregnancies and birth and what she did to prepare herself, mentally and physically for birth and motherhood.  She also explains what lead her to switching to a new care provider for her second birth.  Please enjoy our talk! For more on this episode head over to the show notes: prenatalyogacenter.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest: Deb Flashenberg, the founder and director of the Prenatal Yoga Center, the first yoga center in NYC to focus solely on Moms and Moms to be. In this episode, we will cover: The 3 main benefits of doing yoga during your pregnancy (one of them is probably something you’ve never thought of and it will help you immensely during labor!) What are the “Yoga Don’t” – poses and positions that are contraindicated during pregnancy (and even some attitudes that won’t serve you in your yoga practice How finding a community that supports and guides you during your pregnancy will make the transition to motherhood that much easier for you Resources mentioned in the conversation: Deb’s website: prenatalyogacenter.com Link to Deb’s podcast: Yoga | Birth | Babies: http://prenatalyogacenter.com/podcast-list/  About Deb Flashenberg: Deb Flashenberg is the founder and director of the Prenatal Yoga Center, the first yoga center in NYC to focus solely on Moms and Moms to be.   She is a DONA certified labor support doula, Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, and certified prenatal yoga teacher. Deb completed a Midwife Assistant Program with Ina May Gaskin, Pamela Hunt and many of the other Farm Midwives at The Farm Midwifery Center in Tennessee. She has been teaching this unique and amazing population for 15 years and is continuously in awe of the beauty and brilliance of birth. Deb is the proud mom to her son, Shay, and daughter, Sage.   Deb has had several articles published in Midwifery Today, Doula International, she is a regular contributor to New York Family Magazine and Mommybites as a regular featured blogger.  She has also been featured on Lamaze blog, Giving Birth With Confidence and is a birth expert with The Birth Institute. Deb has also had the honor of being a presenter at the Yoga Journal Live NYC Conference. Deb is also the host of the podcast, Yoga | Birth | Babies.  

This week on Rising Resistance, guest Terri LaPoint will be joining us. Please feel free to call in with any questions or comments. Terri LaPoint is a passionate advocate for families and for pro-life issues. She writes for Medical Kidnap, a division of Health Impact News, working to reunite families and expose injustice that is destroying families all across America. She is a contributing author to the book, Medical Kidnapping: A Threat to Every Family in America. Terri is a regular guest on blogtalk radio programs which advocate for families, and she loves speaking to audiences of any size. Her first article to be published was entitled "Birth and Freedom" in Midwifery Today, which encourages and inspires women to fight for the Constitutional and God-given rights they already have. She was part of the early Tea Parties in Trussville, Alabama, and was involved with the Trust Birth movement from its beginning. Terri holds a B.S. in Cultural Anthropology/World Missions, with minors in Bible/Theology and Behavioral Science. After college, she trained as a midwife and breastfeeding educator. This broad experience has helped equip her for the work that she does now as a voice for so many who are voiceless. She has enjoyed being an extra in several movies. She is a mom with four wonderful children, and has been married to the love of her life for more than 25 years. She loves Jesus with all her heart, and she dares to believe that America is still worth fighting for. Follow Terri on Facebook and on Twitter: @TerriLaPoint

Lana Shlafer is the founder of Master Your Life Academy and the creator of the 21-Day Ease Course. She is a life mastery coach and public speaker who has been featured in numerous publications such as The Huffington Post, Midwifery Today, and TV One. She has helped thousands of people around the world learn strategies to go from just managing their life to totally mastering it through her digital courses, mastermind programs, and live events.   Lana joins me to discuss how to achieve self-mastery beyond success and shares her story of what set her on the path to achieve mastery over her personal life. She also explains how making small, daily changes is the key to mastering your life and business as well as the connection between self-worth, self-sabotage, and self-mastery. “Self-mastery is the purpose of life.” - Lana Shlafer In This Episode of The Sigrun Show:   How focusing on mindset as well as psychological and emotional healing has helped Lana master her personal life Lana's philosophy on achieving success Lana's definition of self-mastery How your environment shapes the way you perceive reality Why Lana believes quantum leap changes are often more destabilizing than small daily changes Understanding that “inner work” is the most important part of “outer work” Key Takeaways:   Manifesting isn't about stuff. It's about actually creating and molding a life that's custom tailored to your greatest joy. All emotions are there for a beautiful reason and are a gift. Reveal, heal, and soar. Connect with Lana Shlafer:   LanaShlafer.com Lana on Facebook Please share, subscribe and review on iTunes Thank you for joining me on this episode of the Sigrun Show. If you enjoyed this episode please share, subscribe and review on iTunes or Google Play Music so more people can enjoy the show. Don't forget to follow and connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! Get Your Free Training Through my own entrepreneurial journey and by training thousands of online entrepreneurs I've identified 7 STAGES of a Profitable Online Business. Get free access to the 7 Stages training videos and take your online business to the next stage.

2 pm Central, 3 pm Eastern: "Positive Impact Radio," host Carol Wachniak Join Carol every week, to talk to people who are making a Positive Impact in the world! Jan Tritten is the founder and editor-in-chief of Midwifery Today magazine and a midwife who was in active practice from 1977–1989. She became a midwife in 1977 after the powerful homebirth of one of her daughters. Her mission is to make loving midwifery care the norm for birthing women and their babies throughout the world. Carol Wachniak Co-Founder of the Educational Foundation for the Children of Fiji 501c3 Project Bula! Fiji Foundation (R)  Practicing Birth and Postpartum Doula since 1980. Linkedin Director & Host of the  Birthing Community/ Doula's Birth/ PostPartum -Homebirth-Midwifery Group with 5,990 members.      

Gail Tully of Spinning Babies joins us for the Pregnancy Birth and Beyond Radio program. Interview took place at the November 2014 Midwifery Today held in Byron Bay Australia. Interview aired live on 99.9 Bay Fm - Byron's community station, 23rd of March 2015.Produced and presented by Lara Martin Copyright 2015 PBB Media and Lara Martin www.pbbmedia.org

Gail Tully of Spinning Babies joins us for the Pregnancy Birth and Beyond Radio program. Interview took place at the November 2014 Midwifery Today held in Byron Bay Australia. Interview aired live on 99.9 Bay Fm - Byron's community station, 23rd of March 2015.Produced and presented by Lara Martin Copyright 2015 PBB Media and Lara Martin www.pbbmedia.org

Aired live from 99.9 fm Byron Bay community station, 6th October 2014. Sue Cookson joins us in the studio talking all things the Midwifery Today Conference being held in Byron Bay Australia, November 2014.Produced and presented by Lara Martin Copyright 2014 PBB Media and Lara Martin www.pbbmedia.org

Aired live from 99.9 fm Byron Bay community station, 6th October 2014. Sue Cookson joins us in the studio talking all things the Midwifery Today Conference being held in Byron Bay Australia, November 2014.Produced and presented by Lara Martin Copyright 2014 PBB Media and Lara Martin www.pbbmedia.org

No matter where you are in life—regardless of your own personal experiences and choices—following Corbin’s journey of self-healing and self-discovery is both thought provoking and uplifting. Her voice is that of an honest and open friend willing to share her story, reveal every raw detail, and inspire with her candor, her humor, and especially her courage. This book is for every woman who has doubted her ability to do what she really wanted to, and it is the proof that we all can.-Excerpt from review in Hip MamaCorbin Lewars’ work can be read in Hip Mama, Mothering, Midwifery Today, and many other publications. She was the editor of Verve and Mamaphiles #3, and is the founder of the zine Reality Mom, currently in it’s seventh year of publishing.

No matter where you are in life—regardless of your own personal experiences and choices—following Corbin’s journey of self-healing and self-discovery is both thought provoking and uplifting. Her voice is that of an honest and open friend willing to share her story, reveal every raw detail, and inspire with her candor, her humor, and especially her courage. This book is for every woman who has doubted her ability to do what she really wanted to, and it is the proof that we all can.-Excerpt from review in Hip MamaCorbin Lewars’ work can be read in Hip Mama, Mothering, Midwifery Today, and many other publications. She was the editor of Verve and Mamaphiles #3, and is the founder of the zine Reality Mom, currently in it’s seventh year of publishing.