Joy Horner - Wise Woman on The Hill
Perinatal Consultant, mentor and Educator for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond
Caesarean birth is not everyone’s first choice when planning the type of birth we’d like. For many women and people who give birth it would be the very last type of birth they’d opt for. So when we are faced with our least favourite choice, the thing we’d worked so hard to avoid, our worst… Continue reading Unplanned Cesarean Birth. A warrior’s path.
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… Continue reading Birth keeper or Baby catcher?
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… Continue reading The Joy of birth
After an awkward issue arose between some midwifery colleagues over use of each other’s materials without consent I was prompted to write this page. I believe all information is knowledge, knowledge is power and therefore should be shared to empower women. All information contained in this blog is my original work, from knowledge amassed throughout… Continue reading Copyright and the sharing of information
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… Continue reading “Am I allowed?”
Breech birth is a very complex subject which requires in depth discussion with your care provider. I am lucky to have worked with one of the UK’s most experienced breech birth midwives, Mary Cronk, learning what I can about these unusual, but not abnormal presentations. I have attended many breech births, attended international breech conferences,… Continue reading Breech Birth
Just returned from a wonderful week in Spain. I met the wonderful Vanessa Brooks for the first time this year, and offered to share my experiences of breech births with her in Spain. Unfortunately I was only able to spend 24hrs at the Midwives Rock workshop, as my family had accompanied me and were eager… Continue reading Da a Luz
Cutting the baby’s umbilical cord is a ritual repeated unthinkingly by many doctors and midwives every day. Please educate yourself about the potential harm that could be caused for the baby by doing this. In 1796, Dr Erasmus Darwin, a physician, and the grandfather of Charles Darwin, published a book in which he highlighted the dangers of cutting the… Continue reading Optimal cord clamping is a much kinder transition for the newborn baby