The most anticipated part of pregnancy is giving birth; yet most pregnancy books devote only a chapter or two to this miraculous event and the physical discomfort that accompanies it. Uniquely, Birth Skills concentrates solely on helping you, and your partner, manage the pain of childbirth - from the first contraction, throughout the labour to the actual birth itself. Written by leading obstetric physiotherapist Juju Sundin, with Sarah Murdoch providing a mother's point of view, this wonderful book tells you exactly how your body works in labour and clearly explains how you can use movement, breathing, vocalisation, visualisation and many other easy-to-follow techniques to alleviate pain. Juju and Sarah's sound advice makes Birth Skills an invaluable guide for all expectant parents.

In birth skills, obstetric physiotherapist and Australia's leading expert in advanced labour pain-management, Juju Sundin shares the techniques she has pioneered over her 30 year career.

Evidence-based care is a well established principle in contemporary healthcare and a worldwide health care movement. However, despite the emphasis on promoting evidence-based or effective care without the unnecessary use of technologies and drugs, intervention rates in childbirth continue to rise rapidly. This new edition emphasises the importance of translating evidence into skilful practice. It updates the evidence around what works best for normal birth, aspects of which still remain hidden and ignored by some maternity care professionals. Beginning with the decision about where to have a baby, through all the phases of labour to the immediate post-birth period, it systematically details research and other evidence sources that endorse a low intervention approach. The second edition: has been expanded with new chapters on Preparation for Childbirth and Waterbirth highlights where the evidence is compelling discusses its application where women question its relevance to them and where the practitioner's expertise leads them to challenge it gives background and context before discussing the research to date includes questions for reflection, skills sections and practice recommendations generated from the evidence. Using evidence drawn from a variety of sources, Evidence and Skills for Normal Labour and Birth critiques institutionalised, scientifically managed birth and endorses a more humane midwifery-led model. Packed with up-to-date and relevant information, this text will help all students, practising midwives and doulas keep abreast of the evidence surrounding normal birth and ensure their practice takes full advantage of it.

An international collaboration of lecturers, practitioners and researchers. Each chapter considers a topic relevant to normalising maternity care. Topics include: routine interventions epidurals physiological third and fourth stages longer labours and approaches to monitoring / intervention most effective models of care birth centres home birth mental health doulas reasons for intervention links between research and practice harmonising models of birth caseload midwifery including 'normality' on medical training courses the symbolic value of birth developments in China, the UAE, Brazil and other countries where dramatic changes are taking place (e.g. in sub-Saharan Africa) the 'natural' caesarean individual agents for change intrapartum best practice ways of supporting women labouring without pharmacological pain relief water birth VBAC the role of regulatory bodies ways of publicising your work communication for best results review of progress and pointers for future research. Questions and extracts provide stimulating reflection and seminar material. For midwives, obstetricians, GPs, doulas and other maternity caregivers. "I strongly recommend this book to midwives, obstetricians, doctors and hospital administrators. It carefully reviews the scientific data." Marsden Wagner-who was director of Women's and Children's Health at the World Health Organization for 15 years, before his retirement. Questions and extracts provide stimulating reflection and seminar material. For midwives, obstetricians, GPs, doulas and other maternity caregivers. "I strongly recommend this book to midwives, obstetricians, doctors and hospital administrators. It carefully reviews the scientific data." Marsden Wagner-who was director of Women's and Children's Health at the World Health Organization for 15 years, before his retirement"

Evidence-based care is a well established principle in contemporary healthcare and a world wide health care movement. However, despite the emphasis on promoting evidence-based or effective care without the unnecessary use of technologies and drugs, intervention rates in childbirth are rising rapidly. Evidence-based Care for Normal Labour and Birth brings to light much of the evidence around what works best for normal birth which has, until now, remained largely hidden and ignored by maternity care professionals. Beginning with the decision about where to have a baby, through all the phases of labour to the immediate post-birth period, it systematically details research and other evidence sources that endorse a low intervention approach. The book: highlights where the evidence is compelling discusses its application where women question its relevance to them and where the practitioner's expertise leads them to challenge it gives background and context before discussing the research to date includes questions for reflection and practice recommendations generated from the evidence. Using research data, Evidence-based Care for Normal Labour and Birth critiques institutionalised, scientifically managed birth and endorses a more humane midwifery-led model. Packed with up-to-date and relevant information, this controversial book will help all students, practising midwives and doulas keep abreast of the evidence surrounding normal birth and ensure their practice takes full advantage of it.

Birthing Autonomy brings some balance to the difficult arguments that arise from debates about home births, and focuses on women’s views and their experiences of planning home births. It provides an in-depth exploration of how women make decisions about home births and what aspects matter most to them. Comparing how differently the pros and cons of home births are constructed and contemplated by mothers and by the medical profession, the book looks at how current obstetric thinking and practices can disempower and harm women emotionally and spiritually as well as physically. Written in an accessible style, this book is enlightening for student and practicing midwives and obstetricians, as well as researchers and students of nursing, medical sociology, health studies, gender studies, feminist practitioners and theorists. It will also be invaluable to expectant mothers who want to be more informed about the choices they are facing and the wider context within which their birth options are considered.

This title is directed primarily towards health care professionals outside of the United States. This book explores the complex interrelationship between risk and choice in maternity care, taking a close look at how "high" and "low" risk are defined and what impact this has on a woman's ability to exercise informed choices throughout pregnancy. It offers an international collaboration that highlights different perspectives on debated issues, with chapters on maternity care in the UK, United States, Australia, and Ireland contributed by midwives, obstetricians, risk management experts, and sociologists. The aim of this book is to illustrate the changing reality of risk management as it relates to maternity care, and to highlight risk management concerns that may limit the choices available to pregnant women. Clarifies how applications of risk affect the choices pregnant women are able to exercise. Locates pregnancy risk considerations within the overall scheme of risk management. Analyzes practitioners' responses to the requirements of risk management. Presents risk management and choice from the risk manager's perspective, providing an understanding of risk as a "macro concept" in health care. Highlights medico-legal opinions on exercising choice, underscoring the need for accurate information and the ability to make informed decisions. Two chapters examine women's perspectives on risk labeling and the impact this has on choice - one in which the concept of safety within maternity care is discussed, and one in which the views of women with defined risk factors are explored and their ability to make choices is evaluated. Two chapters written by health service risk managers discuss the differences between an inner-city approach and a rural approach to the debate surrounding risk and choice. Discusses midwifery's focus on "normality" in childbirth and considers how this viewpoint affects the risk dialogue, including a chapter on clinical trends in maternity care. An obstetric perspective on risk refutes criticisms of obstetricians as being more likely to impose risk labels and limit choices by discussing how risks and choices are presented and considered within obstetric care. Explores the debate surrounding a woman's right to have a home birth in Ireland, in light of its risk management climate. Two chapters discuss the collaboration between service users, midwives, and obstetricians in Australia regarding the organization and delivery of maternity care, as well as the views concerning risk among indigenous Australians. Perspectives from nurse-midwives in the U.S. discuss the complex relationships among nurse-midwives, obstetricians, and pregnant women with regard to choice, including views on risk within immigrant communities.

A book to help midwives and other health care professionals think through the practicalities of optimising pregnancies and births. After explaining precisely how 'optimal' is defined, nine reasons are presented to justify why this kind of birth is best. Finally, key practical issues are considered and reflective questions provided, so as to give caregivers a clear basis for clinical practice, wherever their place of work. This easy-read, accessible book, which is fully referenced, is equally useful for students of midwifery (or obstetrics, or medicine generally), practising midwives, doulas, and maternity care assistants. This third edition includes changes based on feedback and some additional material.

Essential reading for every woman who is or may one day become a mother. Women are told they have pregnancy and birth care choices. But their only real choice is which side to take in the birth wars. Each day battles are waged in hospitals and clinics around Australia: between those who view birth as natural and those who view birth as medical. Both sides care deeply about women and babies and, driven by deeply held beliefs, both sides claim they should manage birth for women. They are the doctors and midwives, or 'mechanics' and 'organics', vying for power in The Birth Wars. Based.

In the Sitapurdistrict of Uttar Pradesh, an agricultural region with high rates of infant mortality, maternal health services are poor while family planning efforts are intensive. By following the daily lives of women in this setting, the author considers the women's own experiences of birth and infant death, their ways of making-do, and the hierarchies they create and contend with. This book develops an approach to the care that focuses on emotion, domestic spaces, illicit and extra-institutional biomedicine, and household and neighborly relations that these women are able to access. It shows that, as part of the concatenation of affect and access, globalized moralities about reproduction are dependent on ambiguous ideas about caste. Through the unfolding of birth and death, a new vision of untouchability emerges that is integral to visions of progress.