Have you been told that your pregnancy is high risk simply because you have a higher BMI? Have you been advised that you need extra tests and interventions, or that you have no choice about where you give birth? Do you feel pressured or scared into following this advice? Are you wondering whether higher BMI actually makes a difference and whether guidelines about higher BMI and birth are truly evidence based? If your answer to any of these questions is “yes” then take a deep breath and rea...

Pregnant women and maternity services are facing an induction epidemic. As medical guidelines include more “at risk” categories, women and our already overwhelmed and under resourced maternity systems are increasingly pressured to induce birth before labour begins spontaneously. Women are deemed to be too large and too old, while babies are estimated to be too big and too overdue. But is ‘better-out-than-in’ really a safer option than waiting to birth in your own time?Staggeringly,...

What is Vitamin K? Why is it offered to all newborn babies? Does my baby need it? Should we agree to an injection, oral supplements or decide to do neither? Are there alternatives? Can we postpone the decision? Are some babies more at risk, and why?Vitamin K has been routinely recommended for newborn babies for several decades, and many parents are happy for their child to be given this. But others want more information, have questions about why this intervention is offered or want...

Group B strep (or GBS) is a common and usually harmless type of bacteria, but it can very occasionally cause serious disease in newborn babies. Many pregnant women are offered screening and prevention for GBS, but there are pros and cons to this, as the main preventative (or prophylactic) measure involves women having antibiotics given to them by intravenous drip in labour.In this updated second edition of her popular book, Dr Sara Wickham discusses the different perspectives on GB...

The decisions that we make about pregnancy and childbirth can shape our experiences, health and lives for years to come, as well as those of our children and families. But many of those decisions are complex, confusing and made harder by the fact that we live in a world which is filled with options and opinions that can feel overwhelming.What’s Right for Me? is an invaluable book which helps make these decisions feel less daunting. This updated edition covers everything from ideas ...

When is it better to induce labour than to let a woman’s body or baby decide the best time for birth? What are the pros and cons of waiting and of being induced? What about after the due date? When the baby is thought to be bigger than average? When the woman is older? If she had IVF? Or when her waters have broken earlier than usual?Induction of labour is an increasingly common recommendation and more and more women find themselves having to decide whether to let their body and ba...

Fifty years ago, we learned that giving a medicine called Anti-D to childbearing women with rhesus negative blood could help protect their future babies from an age-old disease. But the same research which showed this also raised some tantalising questions, to which we still don't know all the answers.Today, rhesus negative women are offered an injection of Anti-D at several points during their pregnancy and birth journeys. Many would like to know more than they can read in the sta...

Are you wondering how to start your research or dissertation journey, swimming through a sea of papers or looking for help knitting your discussion together? Do you need advice for getting the most out of your tutor or how to keep on track with your thinking, writing and analysis? What is critical analysis, in fact, and how do you do that while still having a life?The 101 tips in this book cover a wide range of areas from how to create a good question and keywords to what to do whe...

Why are so many women told that their labour must be started artificially? And what does the evidence actually say about waiting for labour to begin in its own time?In 'In Your Own Time', midwife, researcher, and author Dr Sara Wickham explores one of the most important – and increasingly common – interventions in modern maternity care: the induction of labour.Drawing on decades of experience in midwifery, research, and education, Dr Wickham examines the evidence behind due...

Have you ever thought about how the placenta is born? Did you know that there are actually three different approaches to the birth of the placenta within maternity care? Are you aware that research has shown significant advantages to the baby in taking a slower approach, however the placenta is born. Or that there is plenty of evidence to support a more natural approach for healthy women who would prefer that?This book has been written to help women make decisions about the birth o...