Tag Archives: Ina May Gaskin

Birth keeper or Baby catcher?

I felt compelled to comment on a great blog my the brilliant Rebecca Wright today. It can be seen here entitled “Are you a birthkeeper? Then don’t catch babies.” She was commenting upon the language used by birth workers in a facebook post which said “because maternity care providers are not serving mothers’ needs, more doulas and […]

The Third International Breech Birth Conference. Washington DC November 2012

I was lucky enough to be invited to lead a workshop at this years International Breech birth conference. My qualifications are that I have been lucky to work with Breech birth expert Mary Cronk MBE as an Independent midwife. We attended several breech births together and thus I started to learn breech birth skills. Our […]

Association of Radical Midwives monthly discussion group.

This is a local group for the support of peaceful pregnancy, birth and parenting. Hosted by Joy Horner, radical midwife, mum, lecturer and some day writer. Inspired by the Freedom For Birth film I am determined to impart information about human rights in childbirth, facilitate discussions, and to support women on their journeys to parenthood. You don’t have […]

MAMA Conference 26th and 27th April 2012

Birth Joy (C) 2011 I have just returned from the fabulous MAMA Conference in Troon, Scotland, organised by the brilliant Cassie MacNamara. Mary Cronk MBE had been booked as a speaker but had recently suffered a bereavement, and asked me to talk on her behalf about breech birth. These are big shoes to fill! I […]

The Joy of birth

Has anyone ever told you that birth can be pleasurable or even pain free? It may be a very strange concept to women bombarded with stories of painful or traumatic birth. As an Independent midwife I rarely see women needing pharmacological pain relief, the main reasons being that they feel safe, loved and respected. They know and trust their midwife and know […]

“Am I allowed?”

A woman this week asked me one of the things that make me want to get on my soapbox about assertiveness and women’s rights.  What she said was “are you allowed to give birth to a breech baby?” My response, as ever, to this type of question is “it you who allows or disallows your care […]