spamelita on Oct 19 2007 | Filed under: amazing people, unlearning midwifery
Issues of Midwifery Today have landed on thousands of midwives’ doorsteps. Midwives attend conferences and read countless books on birth and midwifery. We are always seeking new ways to challenge ourselves and enhance our practice.
Are we?
I look at birth pioneers like Michel Odent or Sarah Buckley and wonder if anyone’s hearing them. Michel […]
spamelita on Sep 19 2007 | Filed under: midwife practice, research, unlearning midwifery
I’m wondering how others feel about numerous studies that have shown no adverse outcomes or lack of maternal satisfaction when fewer prenatal visits are scheduled.
I’ve talked about this book before, but Expecting Trouble: The Myth of Prenatal Care in America is a harsh critique regarding what we view as “good” prenatal care, including how often […]
spamelita on Sep 18 2007 | Filed under: midwife practice, research, unlearning midwifery
I have added some evidence-based resources to my links on the left of the page. Just so you know…
And here are some good articles/research on topics that seem to be missed and stump many providers:
(From Sara Wickham’s Site)
Maternal hemoglobin NEEDS to fall during pregnancy - and routine supplementation of iron is unnecessary
Homebirth Safety Resources and […]
spamelita on Sep 18 2007 | Filed under: midwife practice, research, unlearning midwifery
I’m sharing some of my older posts here - the ones that began some real shifting for me in terms of practice. I need to just tag these posts so they can all be contained and easy to find for me:
How the Baby is “delivered”
However, I wonder if the way the mothers respond to […]
spamelita on Sep 12 2007 | Filed under: birth videos, midwife practice, unassisted birth, unlearning midwifery
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMaAfakqHpo]
I remember getting the news that Beatrice birthed her baby. It was a girl, after two boys. Eudora was her name.
I also remember sitting with a friend of mine who had been having issues with her homebirth midwives (she wanted to refuse some things they said were necessary, she wanted an unassisted birth, […]
spamelita on Sep 10 2007 | Filed under: research, unlearning midwifery
One of the invitees to my slumber party (besides you) would definitely be Sara Wickham. I’ve long considered her one of my mentors in birth - mainly because of her stance on evidence-informed midwifery.
The whole area of evidence-informed midwifery raises far more questions than answers at present. Having established that we may need […]
spamelita on Sep 09 2007 | Filed under: midwife practice, unassisted birth, unlearning midwifery
Can we talk about this whole “internet community”/”blog life” thing?
It’s hard “knowing” so many awesome people online, but not in real life. One of my favorite writers on autonomous/unhindered birth is my good friend, Linda. I’m fortunate to live about 40 minutes away from her, and to have had her in my life […]
spamelita on Sep 01 2007 | Filed under: unlearning midwifery
a reader asked about my ‘midwife identity crisis’….
it may not involve getting a red corvette, but it’s a huge transition that I’ve been through since starting my own practice almost 7 years ago. 210 or so births…so many families, so many lessons.
I was told that one of my peers said, “I don’t know […]
spamelita on Aug 22 2007 | Filed under: birth videos, moment of birth, unlearning midwifery
(Please note: this entry is a transfer from my original blog. You can find the original post -and the video clips - here.)
I am on a mission to really get rid of bulb syringes. they are for draining and cleaning out ear wax impactions…they are NOT made for assaulting babies at birth. Did […]
spamelita on Jul 01 2007 | Filed under: midwife practice, political, research, unlearning midwifery
From the Journal of Family Practice, way back in 2005
So why are we still using them?
(I disagree about the benefits of a 50gram glucose tolerance test in pregnancy - I still stand by the use of a glucometer for women with concerns about blood sugar in pregnancy as a more effective, and more user-friendly […]
spamelita on Jan 30 2005 | Filed under: moment of birth, second stage, unlearning midwifery
It’s always interesting to me how people say that I “deliver” babies. Just the term - “deliver” - sounds a bit odd. Almost like I drive around in my big truck, dropping babies off between women’s waiting legs.
Tonight I watched Birth In The Squatting Position with a couple friends. It’s an amazing […]
spamelita on Dec 04 2004 | Filed under: Uncategorized, life of a midwife, midwife practice, unlearning midwifery
My beliefs around birth were very different when I began this path nearly 8 years ago. I was trying to heal myself above all else - heal from a horrible birth that left a deep wound in the most sacred of places. Days in school were spent just trying to figure out where I […]
spamelita on Oct 21 2004 | Filed under: midwife blog, unassisted birth, unlearning midwifery
I’ve recently had some good conversations with a girlfriend about unassisted birth. How does a midwife truly support unassisted birth? What does that mean? What is my role in a midwife-attended birth and how do my views on unassisted birth affect that role?
Ideally, I see my role as midwife as one of a resource. I […]
