Hygge (pronounced Hoo-ga) was all the trend last autumn/winter as people began to prepare for the cosier months and an easier, happier way of living was introduced to use by the Danes.



Hygge is defined as the practice of creating cosy and congenial environments that promote emotional wellbeing - sound familiar?

Birth environments should be cosy, congenial and promote emotional well being. So why not apply the elements of Hygge to birth, specifically homebirth.

Here's a little infographic I put together on how this could be achieved by both mothers and midwives.
Infographic for this post can now be found at http://sagefeminist.blogspot.co.uk/p/infographics-from-blogposts.html

What do you think? Could these elements help create a better birth environment or even make us remember elements which can promote natural physiology of labour.

Ruth x

twitter: @ruth_stmw

Ever felt like you needed a little extra inspiration day to day? Need a boost of realisation that not all student midwives are getting A's and working through 12 hour shifts like a breeze and that even some midwives are feeling stretched in the workplace.

Well here is a list of inspirational midwives and student midwives to follow on twitter / to research / and to look up their books...

1. Sheena Byrom @sagefemmeSB
I met Sheena at the MAMA Conference 2016 and she signed my copy of ROAR. I was definitely fan girling. She gave an amazing talk on midwifery led units and I knew that Sheena's sense of midwifery care and passion for the profession would be something I could align myself with as a student midwife. Sheena and her daughter Anna (also a midwife) tweet at @byromandbyrom and have a great website for all things midwifery. They've also just purchased The Practising Midwife journal so keep your eyes peeled for all new things

2. Hannah Dahlen @hannahdahlen
I also saw Hannah talk for the first time at the MAMA Conference 2016 and her talk on homebirth in Australia really inspired me. She  is an amazing tweeter blogger and currently a Professor of Midwifery in Australia.

3. Jenny @jennythem
I started following Jenny on twitter when I first became a student midwife and her love for skin to skin is inspiring and her poems about life as a midwife are honest and fun to read.

4. Charlene Cole @charleneSTMW
Charlene started the RCM campaign #GetYourTweetOn and has helped promote social media usage within midwifery to help connect similar minds and share information and discussions on a range of midwifery topics. She is also part of the #WeMidwives community and has hosted great chats on twitter. If you are new to midwifery tweeting as a first year student midwife - go follow Charlene!

5.  Diane Menage @dianethemidwife
I have read a good deal of Diane's research and she is a great advocate in midwifery for compassionate care from the perspective of women and mothers.

6. Sara Wickham @DrSaraWickham
Sara is a midwife, speaker, author and researcher with an amazing website looking at current research and asking all those little questions that may have also been playing on your mind. I have attended one of her study days and it was both informational and extremely empowering.

7 & 8. Denis Walsh @deniswalsh4 and Michel Odent @michelodent
The two men on my list! Although I respect a lot more. Denis doesn't tweet much but he is a regular at conferences, study days and pregnancy and birth podcast #Sprogcast. He undertakes a lot of research so his name may sound familiar. Michel has written over 12 books and introduced the concept of birthing pools in maternity hospitals.

9. Amanda Burleigh @optimalclamping
Amanda is an inspiration! She took a topic she had passion for and is now a lead campaigner for optimal cord clamping across the UK and promotes the #waitforwhite campaign. Her passion and voice has now made optimal cord clamping recognised across UK trusts and is actively promoted and practised in many!

And so many more midwifery inspirations, here are few more for you to research;

Lesley Page @LesleyPageRCM
Mary Renfrew @maryrenfrew
Dr. Susan Crowther @SusanCrowtherRM
Cathy Warwick @CathyWRCM
Ina May Gaskin
Shelia Kitzinger
Mary Cronk


Who is the midwife that inspires you?

Ruth x

twitter:@ruth_stmw

From @Cath_BellaBirth on twitter.

Doherty (2003) states that birth plans can also be seen as a good way to start the facilitation of relational decision making and informed choice. The RCM also state that if a woman has made the decision to have an intervention in birth, such as elective cesarean section, this should be outlined in the woman's birth plan (RCM 2012).


Birth plans are also seen as an effective communication tool during labour (Mei et al. 2016) and as midwives and future midwives we all know that communication is a key skills in midwifery care. The Positive Birth Book by Milli Hill (2017) has a whole section on the communication and use of birth plans for women. Today Pinter and Martin, the publishers have made the images Milli used in her book completely free (click here) for women who wish to have a more visual birth plan as we cannot assume a level of English language understanding or literacy in our communities. Some women are more visual learning which mean these images can also help in antenatal classes.

Both birth plans found on pinterest.co.uk

Do you think you would change to introduce visual birth plans into your antenatal care?


References:

DOHERTY, M.E., 2003. Birth plan decision-making: Patterns of interaction. International journal of childbirth education, 18(2), pp.27-33.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF MIDWIVES (RCM) 2012. Evidence Based Guidelines for Midwifery-Led Care in Labour: Rupturing Membranes. London: RCM.

MEI, J.Y., et al., 2016. Birth plans: What matters for birth experience satisfaction? Birth.

My university is classed as UNICEF UK Baby Friendly - which means we follow the UNICEF guidelines when promoting Breastfeeding in our training and during placement.



I am a big advocate for breastfeeding. I am also a big advocate for feeding babies, any which way.
But for those mothers who choose breastfeeding, and it should be a mothers choice, I try to assist and advocate for them to breastfeed in hospital, at home and in public (if they wish).

No mother should feel coerced in how they feed their baby, but when choosing breastfeeding, support is vital as it can be a difficult journey.

I wrote a blog post on breastfeeding on my tumblr website I had when first started thinking about midwifery blogging, and I got lots of feedback of how I sounded like I was regurgitating a textbook, or a breastfeeding leaflet. This is why I decided that I would change my approach to breastfeeding support to be individualised and promote the use of peer supporters and breastfeeding groups in the community.

However I still follow these UNICEF Baby Friendly guidelines (5/10 guidelines);

1. Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated.
2. Practise rooming-in - that is, allow mothers and infants to remain together - 24 hours a day.
3. Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
4. Give no artificial teats or pacifiers (also called dummies or soothers) to breastfeeding infants.
5. Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.

#Normal or #Physiological?

The RCM  have caused a media storm by commenting on the removal of the 'Normal Birth' campaign - which was actually replaced by 'Better Births' in 2014 - THREE YEARS AGO.
But the media picked up on recent comments from Cathy Warwick and created headlines focused on the notion that midwives are giving up on 'normal' birth. The change from calling vaginal childbirth 'normal' birth to 'physiological' was based on the information from mothers and families, and maternal and neonatal death reports.

The reports come off the back of the Kirkup report following the Morecambe Bay investigation. Maternal and Neonatal deaths were found to have been preventable and it was based on a small number of dominant individuals promoting normal birth over medical intervention.
Unfortunately this tarred all midwives with the same brush, creating a barrier between medical and midwifery staff. This report focused on the actions of 3 individual midwives, which did not represent the profession.
In my experience (which I write most of my blog posts upon) I have never seen a midwife reject medical intervention without first using their training, education and clinical judgement.
As a student midwife it is important to us that we understand and respect evidence-based care, and use the guidelines and policies created on the back of research to form our decision making process and referral to medical staff process.

Two terms that were noted upon by journalists were the terms 'Wait and see' and 'Use your intuition'. 
To a lay person, this seems like a dangerous and sometimes worrying approach to risk factors in childbirth. However we used these terms while still using clinical judgement and evidence based practice as paramount.

So what about the normal/abnormal debate? Many mothers noted that they felt guilty, ashamed or judged for choosing c-section, having an emergency c-section or for choosing pain relief such as an epidural. For midwives, and student midwives we are taught normal for us to identify when processes and progress becomes outwith normal parameters, e.g. blood pressure = PET, fetal heart rate monitoring = fetal distress.
We are taught and learn 'normal' as spontaneous vaginal birth. This doesn't mean we do not have the support and care for mothers who choose, or have to have emergency operative procedures. 

The change to physiological as a name is, in my opinion, just looking for a different word which means the SAME thing. The definition of physiological is...


Midwives need to speak up for our profession. I now have.

Ruth

twitter:@ruth_stmw

Congratulations! You have been accepted and begin your journey into midwifery this year (or next).
If haven't read my Journey into Midwifery blog post yet - go back and read that (click this link), if you have, then thank you and hopefully this little post will help you face those university fears as you approach your first classes.


I have gathered a few hints and tips from my experience to help you in your first few weeks...

1. If you haven't already join your university's midwifery course or society Facebook page. Introduce yourself there and find a few names of people in your cohort.

2. Join twitter and follow a bunch of inspirational midwives who will sign post you to interesting blogs, articles and news stories about current midwifery.

3. Join your university's midwifery society. Get involved in attending events, making new friends.

4. Sit next to someone new for each class for the first week.

5. Start conversations - you all have one thing in common, you want to be midwives. Ask if people have twitter/Facebook, are subscribed to any journals; exploit your mutual passion.

6. Do your class reading. It will help. Answer questions in class even if you're not sure of the answer. Have a voice.

7. Attend any midwifery events in your university. It could be a welcome cake stall (my university do this) or talk. Maybe someone has arranged a movie showing.

8. Make friends with the people you live with even if they don't study midwifery. I have spent the past two years living with a student child nurse and student social worker. Although I have my friendship group within midwifery, its nice to step away sometimes.

9. Go out and have fun in the first few weeks. The work load can get heavy quickly so use freshers week to let off some steam, meet people and socialise. Especially the freshers fair (or equivalent) - get your hands on free stuff.

10. Prepare for your classes and placements. Buy all that new stationary, new placement shoes, new textbooks.

and remember...
11. Don't worry about being homesick. I'm 30 and moving to a new city to study at 27 was daunting for me too. Facetime, Skype and trips home. Share your university experiences with friends and family. Talk to someone if you're feeling down.

If you're looking for any specific tips or have questions tweet me at @ruth_stmw using hashtag #studentmidwifeQ and I'll try and help or point you in right direction.

Good luck!

Ruth

twitter: @ruth_stmw
#GetYourTweetOn
#studentmidwifeQ