Birth is intimate and I think, where possible, it’s important to honour that. My husband, Bruno has a son from a previous marriage who was born by caesarean. When I told him I wanted to have our baby at home he deeply respected my decision but was understandably concerned. We decided to do a preparation
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
Dr Michel Odent was recently reported in the Sunday Times and The Daily Mail to claim that that women are losing their ability to give birth and breastfeed naturally, due to a rise in caesareans and a tendency to induce labour. I agree with Dr Odent completely that current induction policies are having a devastating effect on
A new book of water birth stories has been published recently – (see below). Janet Balaskas has contributed her story of the birth of her 4th baby in 1988 to this book, which we include here, plus some rare personal pictures of Janet and Theo taken a few hours after the birth. Here follows the extract from
I have always marvelled at the way nature has provided the newborn baby with a double lifeline in the critical period immediately after birth. Moments after birth, the baby takes its first independent breath. It takes a few minutes for changes to occur in the chambers of the baby’s heart so that is begins to
Some babies are in the breech position in late pregnancy – its not uncommon! A high proportion of breech babies do turn head down spontaneously, especially with a little encouragement so maybe the info below will be helpful. When a baby is in the breech position, the head lies beneath the mother’s ribs and the
First of all I want to say thank you! I had a rather quick and ‘painless’ birth and I consider myself lucky, or as I think – the Pregnancy yoga classes, the Laid-Back Breastfeeding and the Baby Calm classes really helped!! I was due on Boxing Day and our baby boy came on the morning
Alexa’s birth story is interesting because it is a typical case of coming up against the routine recommendations to induce when there are no specific medical indications. This is the story of her journey and how she managed to resist interventions she felt were not necessary and gave birth naturally in the end! “Jamie is
The following information has been produced to help you to be aware of some of the issues that may arise when pregnancy continues beyond the estimated due date, and to empower you for wise decision making to help you decide what to do when you’re overdue. Your EDD (estimated due date) has probably been in
‘Natural Caesarean’ – Including Benefits of a Natural Birth On our Active Birth Weekend Course we always inspire couples, where possible, to aim for a natural birth. A natural birth will give mother and baby the benefit of the ‘love’ hormones (oxytocin and endorphins) – these stimulate efficient contractions and also play a key role in ‘bonding’
