Why is it so? That mothers and babies are not benefiting from current pregnancy care? To understand this problem it is necessary to understand the recent history of birthing in Australia. In the early twentieth century, the majority of women gave birth at home. Today 95% of birth is in hospitals. Infant and maternal mortality

Fearing birth is one thing we should leave back in the Middle Ages. Hannah Dahlen August 5, 2016 2:01pm The reality is that Australia has one of the highest rates of intervention in birth and this is not leading to better outcomes. The comments I make come from 26 years working as a midwife and over

How do we understand the effects and impacts? We don’t! March 18, 2016 No Comments Do you know in Australia, with the exception of indigenous populations, there has been no major improvement in maternal mortality over the past 10 years even given the high level of interventions during pregnancy and birth. Yet the burden of maternal

The ‘doctor knows best’ culture that still dominates our maternity wards not only infantalises women, it is downright dangerous to the health of mothers and babies. Time and time again, when a mother’s instincts are jettisoned, it ends in disaster. We’ve seen this clearly in Bacchus Marsh. While there is still much to be revealed

Is it safer to have a baby at home or in a hospital? Depends on your country.   A review article published several months ago came to a startling conclusion: For low-risk pregnant women, it is safer to have a baby at home than in a hospital. The data upon which the review was based came from Britain. But earlier

‘Spontaneous labour in a normal woman is an event marked by a number of processes so complicated and so perfectly attuned to each other that any interference will only detract from the optimal character.  The only thing required from the bystanders is that they show respect for this awe-inspiring process by complying with the first

On this anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights let us work towards women birthing in all babies starting life in an society that respects human rights. December 10 is the anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations (UN) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR sets out a certain set

The Roar Behind the Silence: why kindness, compassion and respect matter in maternity care For many years there has been growing concern about the culture of fear that is penetrating maternity services throughout the world, and that the fear felt by maternity care workers is directly and indirectly being transferred to the women and families they

A Healthy Baby Isn’t All That Matters November 16, 2015  Wise words from Cristen Pascucci  We hear all the time, “a healthy baby is all that matters.”  That’s simply not true—especially when, all too often, “healthy” means merely “surviving birth,” for both moms and babies.  That’s not nearly good enough. The truth is that in this day

Childbearing is an important rite of passage, with deep personal and cultural significance for a woman and her family. Pregnancy and childbirth are momentous events in the lives of women and families, representing simultaneously a time for extraordinary joy and a time of intense vulnerability. The significance of pregnancy and birth is an often underestimated