The Midwives' Cauldron Katie James and Dr Rachel Reed

Mavis Kirkham is Midwifery Professor Emerita at Sheffield Hallam University and has held honorary professorial positions at the University of Technology Sydney and Auckland University of Technology. After over forty years as a clinical midwife and researcher, she is interested in reflecting and writing on birth and midwifery in its wider context. A major theme of her research has been the way in which the context of their care impacts upon childbearing women and how their working experiences impact upon midwives. She has long been concerned with how birth stories are negotiated and the impact of these stories on tellers and hearers. With Nadine Edwards she has edited a new book titled Freebirth Stories.
 In this episode we discuss with Mavis:
About Mavis’ interest in freebirth and why it seems more women are choosing this way to give birth Mavis tells us about the Freebirth stories from women and Doulas she and Nadine collected for their new bookWe discuss the importance of language in pregnancy, birth and postpartum spaces The important role that doulas play And we ask what Mavis sees as the future of midwifery  Mavis is one of those midwives who has witnessed so many parts of midwifery and her bounty of knowledge and kindness shines through in this episode.

LINKS:
Freebirth Stories 
Get 10% off Katie's Breastfeeding & Lactation: the fundamentals online course today with code POD10 at checkout. 
Support the show Please support the show via Patreon or BuyMeACoffee MERCH here! Music Joseph McDade Like this podcast? Leave us a review here
Want more from Katie and Rachel?
Katie's website
Rachel's website

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute medical or legal advice; instead, all information available on this site are for general informational purposes only. The Midwives' Cauldron podcast reserves the right to supplement, change or delete any information at any time.

The information and materials on the podcast is provided "as is"; no representations are made that the content is error-free. Whilst we have tried to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information we do not warrant or guarantee the accurateness.

The podcast accepts no liability for any loss or damage howsoever arising out of the use or reliance on the content.

Dr Marina Weckend is a midwife and post-doctoral researcher based at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. Building on 13 years’ experience in midwifery practice, education and research in Germany, UK and Australia, Marina is committed to improving maternity care services through better understandings of birth physiology. Her current program of research focuses on natural fluctuations and pauses during labour and birth, and seeks to normalise physiological plateaus as a strategy to reduce childbirth medicalisation. 
In this episode we discuss: 
What are physiological plateaus in labour? Are labour pauses normal? When do they occur during labour and birth? How long do they last? What’s the defining feature of a physiological plateau? How do midwives think and work with them based on their experiences? LINKS:
www.marinaweckend.com
Twitter @marinaweckend
LinkedIn Marina Awakening
Physiological Plateaus Newsletter
Oct 2023 Failure to progress or just normal?
Physiological plateaus during normal labor and birth: A scoping review of contemporary concepts and definitions
Failure to progress or physiological plateaus? A constructivist grounded theory explaining midwives’ views of healthy pauses during childbirth.  


Get 10% off Katie's Breastfeeding & Lactation: the fundamentals online course today with code POD10 at checkout. 
Support the show Please support the show via Patreon or BuyMeACoffee MERCH here! Music Joseph McDade Like this podcast? Leave us a review here
Want more from Katie and Rachel?
Katie's website
Rachel's website

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute medical or legal advice; instead, all information available on this site are for general informational purposes only. The Midwives' Cauldron podcast reserves the right to supplement, change or delete any information at any time.

The information and materials on the podcast is provided "as is"; no representations are made that the content is error-free. Whilst we have tried to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information we do not warrant or guarantee the accurateness.

The podcast accepts no liability for any loss or damage howsoever arising out of the use or reliance on the content.

In this episode Katie talks with Rachel about late preterm and early term infants. These are the babies who have flown under the radar for far too long and often are the babies who struggle the most to get going with breastfeeding. 

Come with us as we take a look at the current research, plans for feeding and what mothers are saying who have had babies born just that bit too early. 
·      How many babies are born late preterm and why the numbers are growing.
·      How late preterm infants are different neurologically and physically to full term babies  
·      What complications are more likely to be seen in the late preterm population
 ·      Current challenges within the maternity system when supporting mothers with late preterm infants
·      Is there a basic plan which can be generalised for most or all late preterm infants?
·      What about those babies born 37-38+6 weeks (early term), do they have higher needs too?
·      And we look at the barriers to continuation of breastfeeding.
https://abm.memberclicks.net/assets/DOCUMENTS/PROTOCOLS/10-breastfeeding-the-late-pre-term-infant-protocol-english.pdf
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/2/312
https://internationalbreastfeedingjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13006-017-0114-0 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1740-8709.2012.00463.x
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/bfm.2020.0379
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0884217515305190
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089%2Fbfm.2015.0122

Get 10% off Katie's Breastfeeding & Lactation: the fundamentals online course today with code POD10 at checkout. 
Support the show Please support the show via Patreon or BuyMeACoffee MERCH here! Music Joseph McDade Like this podcast? Leave us a review here
Want more from Katie and Rachel?
Katie's website
Rachel's website

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute medical or legal advice; instead, all information available on this site are for general informational purposes only. The Midwives' Cauldron podcast reserves the right to supplement, change or delete any information at any time.

The information and materials on the podcast is provided "as is"; no representations are made that the content is error-free. Whilst we have tried to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information we do not warrant or guarantee the accurateness.

The podcast accepts no liability for any loss or damage howsoever arising out of the use or reliance on the content.

Welcome to season 5!! This episode we have the marvelous Dr Sara Wickham back in the cauldron with us talking all about what’s in her new book Plus Size Pregnancy. 
Sara talks to us about:
·      How women and families want, need and deserve better answers to their many questions about higher BMI and birth, and that midwives and birth workers need to know what the evidence says. 
·      Clarification of what is the BMI and as Sara says “it’s a racist, sexist, classist” index created for complete different reason than for health! 
·      We look at why a higher BMI comes with so many tests and limitations for birth and Sara talks us through the existing evidence.
·      Are women with a high BMI more at risk of caesarean section, and if so what are the real reasons behind this?
·      Why the phrase morbid obesity is utter nonsense and rooted in a much darker context.
·      Sara delves into diet culture, it’s myths and the marketing behind it. 
·      Weight bias and fat shaming in healthcare.
·      And why using BMI is problematic in maternity care.
You’ll hear all this and much more in this fabulous episode.

LINKS:
Plus Size Pregnancy book
Dr Sara Wickham website
Sara on Instagram  @drsarawickham
Sara on Facebook sarawickham.com
 
Get 10% off Katie's Breastfeeding & Lactation: the fundamentals online course today with code POD10 at checkout. 
Support the show Please support the show via Patreon or BuyMeACoffee MERCH here! Music Joseph McDade Like this podcast? Leave us a review here
Want more from Katie and Rachel?
Katie's website
Rachel's website

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute medical or legal advice; instead, all information available on this site are for general informational purposes only. The Midwives' Cauldron podcast reserves the right to supplement, change or delete any information at any time.

The information and materials on the podcast is provided "as is"; no representations are made that the content is error-free. Whilst we have tried to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information we do not warrant or guarantee the accurateness.

The podcast accepts no liability for any loss or damage howsoever arising out of the use or reliance on the content.

In this episode Rachel takes us into the world of ‘early labour’. She’s been promising it for a long while, and here it is. Get your lug’ols around this one! 
In this episode we discuss:
·      What’s going on physiologically during this phase of childbirth
·      Beta endorphins and how they work for us during labour
·      The neocortex and what is so important about this part of our brain as we birth
·      Why women in early labour who attend the maternity unit are often sent back home
·      Early labour and the maternity system 
·      How early labour interventions can be prevented
·      We discuss birthing babies into your tights!
·      And whether we can ever fully prepare women with prenatal education 


Get 10% off Katie's Breastfeeding & Lactation: the fundamentals online course today with code POD10 at checkout. 
Support the show Please support the show via Patreon or BuyMeACoffee MERCH here! Music Joseph McDade Like this podcast? Leave us a review here
Want more from Katie and Rachel?
Katie's website
Rachel's website

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute medical or legal advice; instead, all information available on this site are for general informational purposes only. The Midwives' Cauldron podcast reserves the right to supplement, change or delete any information at any time.

The information and materials on the podcast is provided "as is"; no representations are made that the content is error-free. Whilst we have tried to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information we do not warrant or guarantee the accurateness.

The podcast accepts no liability for any loss or damage howsoever arising out of the use or reliance on the content.

Welcome to the biggest episode yet! Well not really, but we have met a milestone I couldn’t have fathomed 3 years ago on 20th July 2020.  It has hit home what has happened over this time and how this 'little' podcast has grown into something really fantastic. And this is due to my dear friend Dr Rachel Reed, our amazing guests who have so kindly donated their time to come on, and to all of you who listen in each episode and make the effort to share it, talk about it, grab a bit of merch to promote it, those of you who have financially supported the show and also those of you who have written in with your stories which have often bought me to tears. I am humbled and really bloomin grateful. 

This is a bonus episode just for you. You will not hear anything about birth, midwifery, or breastfeeding! Be warned! This is a listener special where we asked you guys for your questions about us!
So what will your lug’ols be filled with today? 
·      Katie’s story of a bag of crisps called Keith
·      Rachel dancing to Oliver Twist 
·      How surprisingly we both chose very similar people to invite to our dinner party!
·      But don’t talk to Rachel about bananas or pineapples
·      We reminisce on going clubbing together from 11am on public holidays in Newcastle upon Tyne, in the UK. 
·      We let you in on what we got up to at our midwifery university graduation
·      And finally … how Katie got chased by a lion. 
Should make for good listening… not educational listening at all, but if you are up for being told a story or two then grab a cuppa and sit down with us in this special episode!
Support the show Please support the show via Patreon or BuyMeACoffee MERCH here! Music Joseph McDade Like this podcast? Leave us a review here
Want more from Katie and Rachel?
Katie's website
Rachel's website

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute medical or legal advice; instead, all information available on this site are for general informational purposes only. The Midwives' Cauldron podcast reserves the right to supplement, change or delete any information at any time.

The information and materials on the podcast is provided "as is"; no representations are made that the content is error-free. Whilst we have tried to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information we do not warrant or guarantee the accurateness.

The podcast accepts no liability for any loss or damage howsoever arising out of the use or reliance on the content.