I was 3 days past my ‘due date’ and couldn’t wait to meet our baby. I was trying to remember that ‘the baby will come when she is ready’ but I hadn’t felt any tell-tale signs and thought I was in it for the long haul. To cheer me up, my husband and I decided
The new Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists ‘Management of Breech Presentation‘ guideline has been published. This is the fourth edition of this guideline (first published in 1999) and substantially revises recommendations in the previous version which was published in 2006. The RCOG define the aim of the guideline as aiding decision making regarding the route
There is nothing greater than hearing about the positive birth experiences of the wonderful parents we work with. This lovely note comes from Anna who attended Janet’s yoga classes at the Active Birth Centre. I wanted to send you news of the birth of our daughter, Ava, and to thank you for all of your
Essentially labour is a dance between mother and baby aided by the downward force of gravity. Now that we have some understanding of the physiology – lets turn to the protagonists. I believe it is essential that we think of labour starting in the final weeks of pregnancy when baby and mother are preparing, both
The concept of dilation of the cervix from 0-10cms during labour is unphysiological when we understand labour as a series of responses between mother and baby. It starts at the very end of pregnancy, when space in the womb is tight and the baby’s head starts to descend into the brim of the pelvis. Pressure
I have worked with mothers to be in pregnancy for more than 30 years and helped many hundreds of them to successfully access their mammalian instincts and to give birth naturally. As humans we have the disadvantage of our over-active rational brain and cultural conditioning to be afraid of giving birth. We are giving birth
The mammalian birth process is one of Mother Nature’s finest creations. It is a biological process common to all mammals, including ourselves, which occurs spontaneously when pregnancy comes to an end. On the physiological level it involves a complex combination of interactions between mother and baby, from the end of pregnancy, throughout the phases of
One of the things that women in my pregnancy yoga and Active Birth classes all love is the affirmations that we do in class to help build a strong trust that their bodies were born to have babies successfully. Here are some of my favourites: My baby fits my pelvis perfectly My baby knows when
These pregnant mothers are sharing a cup of herbal tea after one of my yoga classes this week. A discussion began about the essential oil of Clary Sage, which is often called a ‘womb tonic’ and has also been called ‘natural gas and air’. One of them used it for the birth of her first
It’s high time the programme makers joined the birth revolution, writes Milli Hill On 4th April 1982, I was a carefree seven year old, and therefore totally unaware that, as I played with my Pippa dolls in my dungarees, six thousand women were marching in Hampstead Heath for a woman’s right to give birth in
