Midwif This

A blog about motherhood, family, midwifery and moments of change.

  • Breastfeeding during the first week – an overview

    September 20, 2018 by

    So, Breastfeeding is rarely like it seems in the hallmark cards.

    Understanding what is “normal” can give you some great insight into the behaviour to expect from your your baby, and how that changes (so quickly!!) over the first week.

    Each day is a new adventure when you are learning how to breastfeed and infant.

    You might think you need an electric breast pump, breastfeeding pillow and heard about supplements for breast milk production among all the other baby stuff. But the best thing you can invest in is good breastfeeding education in your pregnancy for you and your partner and good postnatal support so you have the time to learn and fall in love with your baby.

    Following is a very basic overview of what you might expect from a well baby born at term.

    Of course, if you are looking for more information, I am always here.

  • Shifra’s first bath (a family experience)

    September 13, 2018 by

    Shifra was approximately 2 weeks when she had her first bath. A few notes on the video below: 1. The bath is in the kitchen sink. clean, easy to fill and empty, and with a good height bench to work with 2. bath water is lovely and warm. warm enough for anyone to comfortably bathe… Read more

  • What are the first three months with a newborn like?

    September 2, 2018 by

    Let’s talk about preparing for life in the postpartum period. In particular, I want to run through a really rough timeline about what you might expect in the first few months of your baby’s life. The baby that you have. Before we start saying what’s normal, it is really important that we have a good… Read more

  • ‘Mummy wars’ – I call bullshit

    April 15, 2018 by

    Do you breastfeed or bottle feed? Are you a SAHM or working mum? Do you co-sleep or cry it out? 

    This constant separation into polarising groups is total bullshit.

    The idea that the hundreds and thousands of new mothers every year will easily fall into opposing sides on every single parenting decision is the most absurd claim that has made it into urban myth.

  • Why did we first start writing birth plans?

    April 8, 2018 by

    Ever wondered about the history of Birth plans?

    Why do women spend all this time in pregnancy listing the different things they want (or want to avoid) in their pregnancy, birth or with their new baby?

    This short lecture starts the discussion about the history of birth, human rights in childbirth, informed consent – and where birth plans might fit in with all this

  • 10 ways to give birth like an anarchist.

    April 6, 2018 by

    Ask questions. About everything. Literally everything. “what are you doing? why are you doing that? What other options do I have? Are there any risks with doing that? What else can you do instead?” Ask questions about where you birth, when and with whom. Ask what the evidence is and if there is any contradicting it. Learn about levels of evidence and recommendations in pregnancy. Know your hospital’s policies on induction, monitoring, appointments, home visits, breastfeeding and bottle-feeding, support people, bed sharing, everything. Read every one. And learn the difference between policy and evidence.

  • The imperfect mum and the art of wabi-sabi.

    April 3, 2018 by

    From what I understand (and I can’t make this clear enough – I am absolutely not an expert in Japanese culture or language) this process is aligned with the concept of Wabi Sabi- or perfect imperfections. Essentially treating breakage and repair as an important element of the object’s history and journey instead of something that should be disguised or worse- cause it to be discarded.

  • Early pregnancy symptoms-Sore breasts

    April 2, 2018 by

    As your pregnancy develops there is a wide range of changes that your body undergoes to prepare for creating breastmilk and feeding your baby.

    Good news! any ‘advice’ you have been given about preparing your body for breastfeeding is now debunked!

     

    Clearly your body is doing a fine job of that all by itself thank you very much. 

  • The problem with recommendations

    January 6, 2018 by

    Probably one of the biggest decisions we make very early in our pregnancy is deciding where we will have our baby and who will look after us. To further complicate the matter, this decision may have the greatest impact on how our baby comes into the world and how we are prepared for and supported in our mothering (or fathering).

  • Making difficult decisions

    December 31, 2017 by

    In other areas of health, we might have the opportunity or feel secure in asking for second opinions, researching other options or just saying no. When we are having a baby however, quite often our default position is to give our decision making and reasoning over to the “experts”. After all we don’t want to make the wrong choice… and what do we know?

  • Boobs and elderberry

    August 6, 2017 by

    So my three youngest children (5, 5, and 18 months) were home today. Each with unique and uncomfortable illnesses. In no particular order, I had the privilege of managing gastro, chicken pox and a UTI. Actually, the order was from most likely to make me cry to the least and vomiting always wins that fun-time trifecta.

  • If I read one more post about a mum breaking down I’ll cry.

    July 22, 2017 by

    I have definitely spent my share of hours being the miserable know-it-all sadly “helping” another mum by explaining that unfortunately the exhaustion she is experiencing is normal, and yes she is isolated and overwhelmed, however, her baby is healthy, growing well and acting exactly as a baby of that age should

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