My Expert Midwife
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My Baby's Back to Back, What Can I Do?
Read more → So you've just visited your midwife and she (or he) has told you that your baby is back to back. What do you do now? Well, you can try hands and knees position and avoid slouching during pregnancy, although current evidence would suggest that this makes little difference to the position that your baby will be in as your labour begins. Current evidence would also dispute the notion that the cause of your baby's back to back position is related to what you have and have not done (see above). Some 15 - 30% of babies will start labour...
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How Long Does Birth Take & Should I Try to Speed it Up?
Read more →Lesley is our My Expert Midwife midwife, and here she gives us her thoughts on labour and birth and questions why we want to speed up the process: I've always been intrigued by our need to speed up labour; clary sage, reflexology, walking etc etc...the list seems endless! I've always practised in a much more primitive way. Whenever I'm faced with a dilemma around the process of birth I ask myself 'what would a woman have done 200,000 years ago' and 'what is nature's plan'? Both questions have served me well. Take for example the issue of poo in labour:...
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What to Expect After Your C Section
Read more →When caesarean sections, or C Sections, are necessary they save lives, however as with all births, recovery and the time it takes varies from person to person. During your c section operation the large stomach muscle that supports you has been weakened so you’ll need to take extra care when moving about and lifting things. What can I expect recovery wise? Taking it easy, your body needs to mend and it needs rest and nourishment to do this. Eat healthily and arrange for help with normal day to day things Avoiding lifting heavy objects – again, as the stomach muscles...
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How To Do Perineal Massage
Read more →Why do perineal massage? Your perineum is the patch of skin between your vagina and anus and it's this part that's most likely to tear when you give birth. Most women will suffer from some type of childbirth tearing (around 9 out of 10 women with their first baby and around 7 out of 10 with subsequent births). The risks of having tears to your birth canal and the perineum during the birth of your baby are mostly predestined by genetics and the position that your baby was in during birth, but there are some things that you can do...
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After Childbirth - How to Help Recovery after a Natural Birth
Read more →How common are tears? Tears are extremely common with first babies with around 9 out of 10 women having them and less so with every subsequent birth (around 7 out of 10) What are they & what causes them? As your baby’s head is stretching your perineum you will feel a burning sensation and as your tear occurs that burning stops. There are different types of tears and they can be placed into four categories depending on their severity; first degree, second degree, third degree and fourth degree. A first degree tear involves just the skin of your perineum and...
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Is Childbirth Painful & What's the Pain Like?
Read more →Everyone’s perception of pain differs and everyone's concern of childbirth is the same; 'Is childbirth painful? For everyone, pain is relative; some women find period pains agony whereas others experience them pain free. However, even those women who are cursed with severe period pains will cope. They may need to use simple pain relief such as paracetamol and hot water bottles but they cope none the less. For a woman to be incapacitated for the length of their period every month is extremely rare. What is Childbirth Pain Like? Childbirth is no different. For a few it will be...
