Theme: Labor Complications
Make sure you receive the next edition of Midwifery Today magazine, which hits newsstands, mailboxes, and Midwifery Today online this December. Our Winter 2018 issue is dedicated to the topic “Labor Complications” and is filled with clinical articles, vital information, midwifery tricks of the trade, gorgeous birth photos, and delightful homebirth stories from around the world.
“Labor Complications” can occur at anytime, expected or not, and midwives need to be knowledgeable about and prepared for them. This Winter 2018 issue offers a refresher for some of those complications—including umbilical cord prolapse and learning to handle the unexpected. In addition, it includes the usual birth stories and practical advice for midwives and doulas, along with birth practices, customs, and rituals in three different countries, and enjoyable writings by Sister MorningStar, Michel Odent, Jane Beal, the continuing series “The Portable Midwife” by Regina Willette, and much more!
Learn what a Midwifery Today Online Membership can do for you. = Membership Article.
Photo by Josh Bean
Using stories from her practice, Margie Dacko reflects on the conundrum of truly knowing a due date.
Photo by Keisuke Higashio
The maternal/child health system is broken, but doulas around the country are developing programs to change that. Learn about some of them in this timely article. Read more…. Navigating a Broken System: Addressing Racial Disparities in Birth Outcomes
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez
I have been thinking about the theme of connection since I returned from the Bad Wildbad, Germany, Midwifery Today conference last month. Midwifery Today conferences provide a unique environment in which to support in-person connections to the sacred and ancient traditions of supporting women, families, and babies during the childbearing years. They have the added value of providing a space for practitioners from all over the world to connect to information provided by speakers and practitioners who share with one another.
This article in the homebirth midwife series focuses on the initial interview.
Lithograph | Joseph E. Baker [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Being a midwife in the early days of the US was a risky proposition—if you were considered to be on the wrong side of the church and had the bad luck to help deliver a baby with birth defects.
Read more…. Jane Hawkins: A Colonial American Midwife and a Complicated Birth
Often a deviated uterus will lead to an automatic cesarean. Jessica Gray writes about how this difference in her physiology led to her happy breech births.
Lora Denton—loradentonphotography.com
Often a deviated uterus will lead to an automatic cesarean. Jessica Gray writes about how this difference in her physiology led to her happy breech births.
Vicki Penwell shares the essentials of a training by Mercy in Action on how to deal with the unexpected during a birth. Read more…. Expect the Unexpected
Photo provided by the author
This article elucidates when and why varicose veins occur, what medical studies suggest for treatment, and what other midwives and mothers have found helpful.
Photo provided by the author
“Homebirth, first breaths, re-immersion in water and primate movement are a biological continuum for mamababy.” Sister argues for first breaths and primal imprinting for newborns—an instinctual interaction between mother and baby. Read more…. Newborn First Breaths: The Primal Movements of Lifelong Bonding, Imprinting, and Well-being
Photo by Trevor Cole
A great discussion of births during pre-agricultural times versus our current socialized birth, and the fetus ejection reflex. We need to go back to privacy for birthing women. Read more…. Is Labor a Complication of Socialized Birth?
Esther Edith—estheredith.com
Obstetrician/midwife Fernando Molino discusses the complication of cord prolapse, its different types, risk factors, and how to deal with it when it occurs.
