UBirth

Line up for May 🤰🏼💗✨ message to book or follow on Instagram

First of all, Happy New Year and welcome back to Midwifery Monday! 👩🏼‍⚕️I hope we’ve all had a great holiday/summer break and are slowly coming out of rest mode and easing back into some normality and routine. If you’ve had a baby during the Christmas and New Year period (and I know there has been a few!) my biggest congratulations to you! 💗

We’re kicking off another series, this time it’s all about hormones and pregnancy, labour, birth & beyond. Some people might find this boring, some even unnecessary, however I’m a strong believer that knowledge and education is power and the more you know, the better. I think it’s crucial to have a good understanding about our anatomy and physiology in general, but it’s so much more important to have that knowledge while you’re pregnant. Why? It lets you understand what is happening and why is it happening, also gives you a good foundation to make informed decisions 💡

So, what hormones will we talk about?
1. Oestrogen
2. Progesterone
3. Oxytocin
4. Prolactin
5. Human Chorionic Lactogen (hPL)
6. Prostaglandins

There are other hormones involved in the process as well, but let’s start with the main ones 🧬

Your ‘determined to educate you at all angles’ midwife Sandra x

Join our Small Group Antenatal Class on Saturday 14th of December in Matraville ❤️

Special Christmas discount - only $140 per couple 🎁

Message to book or email [email protected] 🎄

Join me - an experienced Midwife & Lactation Consultant for our Small Group Antenatal Class!

DM to book 💗

Irish Support Agency Community Appreciation Awards ☘️

It was a great privilege for myself and uBirth being nominated in the Health & Wellbeing category - massive congratulations to the winner Keith’s closet ❤️ it was a fantastic night and lots of money raised for ISA! It’s really amazing being part of Irish diaspora in Sydney and give back to the community 🫶🏼

Thank you ❤️
Your ‘feeling like a princess in that dress’ midwife Sandra x

Welcome back to Midwifery Monday! 👩🏼‍⚕️I know it has been a hot minute since the last educational post but being perfectly honest life has been HECTIC this half of the year to say the least 😅

So, we’re back to non-pharmacological pain relief methods in labour and today we are talking about using heat. It can be applied through multiple ways, in forms of regular or scented heat packs or water, like shower or a bath. Heat is especially great in early or latent phase of labour when pains are not as strong yet and might feel period-like. Also, it’s a great choice for pelvic and back pain. Heat can make you feel more relaxed, and it can be paired with other methods like water, aromatherapy, or massage. It can be a real life-saver at home and your support person or partner can help you out – warm up heat packs or run you a beautiful bath! Remember to keep yourself hydrated while using heat and follow instructions on heat packs to avoid burns🥵

Are you planning on using heat in labour and birth? 🔥

Your ‘let’s crank up the heat’ midwife Sandra x

Ref: Pregnancy, birth & baby. (2022). ‘Non-medical pain relief during labour’. https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/non-medical-pain-relief-during-labour
RANZCOG. (2016). ‘Pain Relief in Labour and Childbirth’.https://ranzcog.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Pain-relief-labour-childbirth-pamphlet.pdf

THANK YOU! 💗

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for ongoing support and allowing me to be a small part of your pregnancy, birth and parenthood journeys 🤱🏼

As I mentioned previously once this account will reach 250 followers, I will have something exciting for you guys - and here it is uBirths first giveaway! 🎉

You’re in a chance to win the Ultimate Antenatal Education Bundle 🤰🏼 which consists of the following: 1. Antenatal Class
2. Birth Plan Preparation Class
3. Breastfeeding Preparation Class
This bundle can either be used by you or gifted to someone special 💗

To enter follow those steps:
1. Like this post and share it to your story - don’t forget to tag
2. Tag your bestie/ mama to be in the comments
3. Make sure you’re following uBirth on Instagram

Winner will be announced 1st of March 🌸

Your ‘incredibly grateful’ midwife Sandra x

Welcome back to Midwifery Monday! Today I’m starting a theme for the next couple of weeks talking about non-pharmacological pain relief methods for managing pain during labour and childbirth. A lot of those options work best for you when you have good support person on the day/night that can help you through and keep you on track.

It’s a good idea to get familiar with those options and explore them, you never know what you might like or find useful when the time comes! Also, if there is something in particular that you’d like to do or have access to, make sure to discuss those wishes with your healthcare provider prior to birth to check that there are no contraindications for you or your baby and that your place of birth offers it.

Have you explored non-pharmacological pain relief methods? Or maybe you used some of them during your last labour?

Welcome back to Midwifery Monday! I hope January is treating you well. Today I want to open up a new educational series talking about different pain relief options. Let’s be honest labour is not pain free and it’s important to be aware and educated about options available to you. It’s also the topic that’s always asked first in my birth preparation classes.

There are also a lot of different factors to consider. Do you rather non-pharmacological or pharmacological approach? Does your place of birth offer the pain relief you’re interested in? Are there any contraindications for you or your baby?

It’s also important for your partner and/or support person to know what your choices are and support you in them. It’s also a good idea to put your birth preferences together on paper in your birth plan.

Have you thought about pain relief methods yet?

Your ‘explore your pain relief options’ midwife Sandra x

Welcome back to our first Midwifery Monday of the year! I hope everyone had lovely time off for the holidays, enjoyed a reset and are slowly easing back into the New Year. Also, massive congratulations to all new parents that had their babies over the festive period.

Today we are back to talk about the final stage of labour. Third stage starts once the baby is born and involves birthing of the placenta if you’re having a va**nal birth. If you are having a caesarean section, placenta is removed from the uterus by obstetrician performing the surgery. This stage can be managed actively – with use of oxytocic drugs (they make your uterus contract) or physiologically with no drugs. The decision which way you’d like third stage to be managed should be explored and discussed during pregnancy and with your midwife/obstetrician. There might be cases where physiological management won’t be recommended.

During active management, you will be offered an oxytocic drug as soon as the baby is born, usually administered via injection into your thigh, to help your uterus contract, deliver the placenta through the birth canal and help control postpartum bleeding. Once there are signs that placenta has separated from the uterus, the midwife/obstetrician will gently pull on the cord, while having one hand on your tummy and guide the placenta out. This process usually lasts up to 30 minutes.

During physiological management, no drugs are administered, and you wait for the placenta to separate from the uterus on its own and there’s no guidance from the third person. A lot of women would feel sensation of pressure in their va**na and urge to push the placenta out themselves. This process usually takes up to 1 hour. In case of heavy va**nal bleeding during physiological management, your care provider might recommend to switching to active management to control the bleeding.

Have you thought about your third stage of labour?

Your ‘know your stages’ midwife Sandra x

Ref: NHS. (2023) ‘The stages of labour and birth’, https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/labour-and-birth/what-happens/the-stages-of-labour-and-birth/

Welcome back to Midwifery Monday! 👩🏼‍⚕️

Today I’d like to talk about breathing techniques during labour. These techniques aim for mindful and purposeful breathing, where all of your attention is drawn to your breath, away from other distractions such as contractions. It can be a great tool to help you relax, stay present, reduce stress & anxiety and also to reduce overall tension in your body, which we tend to do when we hold our breath or if it’s shallow. Mindful breathing is also linked to an easier labour and birth. It’s one of the main non-pharmacological methods of pain relief! However, it takes a little bit of practice, so it’s a good idea to start practicing in pregnancy, before the big day 💨

So how to do it?
- Take slow & deep belly breath through your nose and exhale through your mouth
- To help, you can place both of your hands on your belly, facing inwards
- On inhale you should feel your fingertips moving apart, on exhale moving towards each other
- If it feels right, feel free to let a big sigh out of your mouth on the exhale, can be really helpful when you’re breathing right through a contraction
- Practice breathing slowly with a count, for example in for 4 and out for 4, you can also try and extend the exhale, just make sure you’re comfortable in the process and not feeling dizzy

If at any stage you feel overwhelmed or a little bit lost with your breathing, use your support person to help you, bring yourself back into the present moment 💗

Ref: Breathing techniques and self-help techniques for labour, 2023, HSE. https://www2.hse.ie/pregnancy-birth/labour/preparing/breathing-self-help-techniques/ #:~:text=Practice%20taking%20deep%20slow%20breaths,for%20a%20count%20of%205.

Your ‘keep breathing’ midwife Sandra x

Hi and welcome back to Midwifery Monday! Today I’d like to talk about baby movements also referred to as fetal movements. You will start to feel your baby move between 16 to 24 weeks of your pregnancy, it’s a very exciting time and definitely makes the pregnancy ‘feel’ real! The movement might feel quite different between women and pregnancies, women report the movements to feel like an obvious kick or a more subtle flutter, they can also feel like a roll or more of a swish. It’s important to get to know your baby’s movement pattern, as every baby is different. We are slowly moving away from giving women a definite number of kicks in a specific timeframe as a reference to ‘good fetal movements’ as research is limited and now encourage women to get to know their baby and seek help when their baby’s movement pattern has changed. So, there is a shift from ‘reduced fetal movements’ to ‘change in the pattern of fetal movements’.

Your baby kicking and moving is the biggest indicator of their wellbeing and that the baby is healthy. A common myth that the baby runs out of space towards the end of pregnancy and doesn’t move as much, is simply not true. You should be able to feel your baby move right until birth. If you are concerned about your baby’s movement pattern, the baby is moving less than normal or you can’t feel the baby move at all, please contact your midwife or obstetrician as soon as you can and they will talk you through the next steps, usually they will ask you to come to the hospital to check the baby’s heart beat by CTG (cardiotocograph) monitoring or ultrasound.

Ref: ‘Movements matter’, Stillbirth Centre of Research Excellence. (https://stillbirthcre.org.au/parents/safer-baby/movements-matter/).
‘Your baby’s movements’, NHS. (https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/your-babys-movements/).

Your midwife, Sandra x