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Polycythemia and the Natural Emergence of the Placenta

When a pregnant woman mentions to her medical provider that she wants to leave the baby’s umbilical cord to pulse until it has turned white, the provider might say “Oh, no, you don’t want to do that because your baby can get too much blood in his/her body.”

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Michele Savonarola: His Fifteenth-Century Guide to Pregnancy and Pediatrics for the Midwives and Mothers of Ferrara, Italy

Michele Savonarola was a court physician who served the house of Este in the fifteenth-century city-state of Ferrara, Italy, and was a prolific writer of Latin and Italian texts. About 1460, he composed his vernacular Italian manual bearing the Latin title, De regimine praegnantium et noviter natorum usque ad septennium, or Guide for Pregnant Women and Newborns up to the Seventh Year, which has recently been translated into English (Zuccolin and Marafioti). The Guide allows today’s English readers to learn more about midwifery, maternity, medical practice, and the realities of the childbearing year, including the care of the newborn, in early modern Italy.

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Fiery Birth

Many years ago, in a galaxy far, far away … I was at Aria’s first homebirth, which was taking its sweet, mellow time. No problems, just a slow, laid-back birth. I was asked to help pass the time telling birth stories.

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U-Turn in the History of Human Births

From the studies of human groups that had retained palaeolithic characteristics until the twentieth century, we can conclude that before the “neolithic revolution” women were isolating themselves to give birth and that procreation was usually starting soon after puberty (Everett 2008; .Shostak 1990; Schiefenhovel 1978)

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Wisdom of the Midwives: Induction

Wisdom of the Midwives: Induction | When do you think it is best to induce?, AROM and induction, Ripening the Cervix, and Natural methods of encouraging labor

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Media Reviews – Issue 143

Midwifery Today, Issue 143, Autumn 2022.Join Midwifery Today Online Membership Frontline Midwife: My Story of Survival and Keeping Others Safe, by Anna Kent. 2022. (London: Bloomsbury, $18.98, 361 pages, paperback.) I knew by the short review and first few pages that this book was going to be both challenging and rewarding to read. It is an intertwined story of professional and personal survival and one I would you read, but when I am in a “safe” space myself. Anna shares the ups and downs of working with MSF (Médicins sans Frontières—Doctors without Borders). Many of the readers who delve into this book, who would have heard of (or even may have worked with) MSF, may not be prepared for the content. Anna makes no excuses for sharing her amazing stories of birth, life, and death in challenging settings around the world. When I first read about this book, I remember her saying that her work with birthing families could not be further from that of the UK mothers, who chose a pool with whale music playing in the background. I found this difficult, as over my 40 years as a midwife I have seen birth trauma, both physical and psychological, within the National Health Service (NHS). I have experienced the highs and lows of births and, yes, sometimes death, but not on the scale which Anna shares with the reader. Her journey takes us from South Sudan (her first assignment) to Bangledesh (where she cares for Rohingya refugees from Myanmar). Her stories are vivid, realistic, and, in many cases unbelievable—for Western-trained and -based midwives. We learn about the wonderful dedicated staff with whom she works—doctors, nurses, and midwives from all around the world. It is the last group of health professionals and the urgent need for these midwives that brings… Read more…. Media Reviews – Issue 143

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Photo Album – Issue 143

Photo Album – Issue 143 | Photos by EvaDiana Iguaran—evadiana.com

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Line drawing of two people by David B. Such

To Birth a Child

Poetry: To Birth a Child, by David B.Such

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Tricks of the Trade

Tricks of the Trade – Issue 143

Tricks of the Trade – Issue 143 | For Morning Sickness/Nausea, Repairing Minor 1st Degree Tears, Useful Information, Neonatal Care Tips

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Induction of Labor—Why or Why Not?

Labor induction is the use of artificial means to start uterine contractions, with the purpose of ending a pregnancy. “Artificial means” includes methods that use synthetic substances such as pharmaceuticals, natural substances such as herbs and homeopathic remedies, or mechanical forces such as sweeping membranes or artificial rupture of the amniotic sac. The list of ways to try to force labor to begin is long.

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Ophelia’s Surrendered Birth

Ophelia’s beautiful mama reached out to me early in her pregnancy, seeking a homebirth after a cesarean six years before. Her determination alone made her a great candidate for a HBAC, along with her self-awareness and overall vibrant health. At our first meeting, B expressed that she wanted her partner and her mother as her birth team, and they were both wonderfully involved and supportive throughout her pregnancy and birth.

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Understanding the Phase of Human Birth Preparation

It is more and more common, in the framework of modern obstetrics, to shorten the duration of pregnancy through such interventions as labor inductions (and pre-labor cesareans). This is the reason we will summarize the conclusions of recent studies suggesting that the importance of the short phase of “physiological birth preparation” is underestimated (Odent 2019).

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