Issue 95

Midwifery Today Issue 95 Theme: First Stage

Packed with informative, clinical articles related to the first stage of labor, this issue will help midwives understand the dangers of epidurals; the pros and cons of rupturing membranes; and the wonders of using homeopathic remedies for labor and birth. Also included in this issue: Author Leah Hazard discusses the unique cycle of fear, tension and panic that fathers experience during their partners’ labor and birth; midwife Carol Gautschi discusses her views on first stage; and a midwife working in Haiti gives an eloquent update on one Haitian birth clinic’s role in helping earthquake survivors.

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Photos provided by author
Several months after a 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti, many residents are still living in tent cities such as the one pictured here.

We’ll Grow Back When the Rain Comes: An Update from Haiti

by Nechama Wildanah September 1, 2010

A midwife working with laboring mothers in a still-devastated Haiti, is empowered and amazed by the tireless midwives she meets who are “single-handedly making such a big difference in women’s lives and the region at large.”

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The Choices We Make: Building Trust between Midwife and Client

by Ireena Keeslar September 1, 2010

Veteran midwife Ireena Keeslar offers tips to midwives who want to build a midwifery practice that honors and respects their clients, while still making time and space for themselves and their own families.

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Turn, Baby, Turn: New Maneuvers for Turning a Malpositioned Baby

by Linda Hawkins September 1, 2010

An obstetric nurse shares her maneuvers for helping to get a baby’s head out of the mother’s bladder compartment and into the pelvic compartment, then facilitating rotation from an occiput posterior position to an occiput anterior or occiput transverse position, saving the mother many hours of hard, ineffective labor and avoiding the need for a c-section.

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Photo—Cornelia Enning

Beyond Fear, Tension and Panic: Helping Men Enjoy the Birth Experience

by Leah Hazard September 1, 2010

How many times have you seen a man become overwhelmed by fear as his partner gives birth? Calm enough to begin with, the man who was diligently timing contractions and cracking the odd joke a few hours ago now sits rigid by his partner’s bedside, his eyes wide with panic… Read more…. Beyond Fear, Tension and Panic: Helping Men Enjoy the Birth Experience

Photos provided by the author

A Family-centered Cesarean Birth

by Stacy S. Hirsch September 1, 2010

Faced with a necessary cesarean, a mother must give up her hopes of having a homebirth, but still manages to craft an inspiring birth plan that gives her daughter “the gentlest birth possible given the circumstances.”

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First Stage: Preparing the Fetus Ejection Reflex

by Michel Odent September 1, 2010

Author Michel Odent reminds midwives that “when there is an authentic fetus ejection reflex, the midwife can forget her usual worries about, for example, shoulder dystocia, difficulties for the delivery of the head in the case of a breech presentation, difficult process of rotation, dangerous perineal laceration, etc.” and gives succinct pointers for helping women experience a natural fetus ejection reflex.