Childbirth in the U.S. can be dangerous and dehumanizing. An ob/gyn who traveled recently to India to review childbirth there says the U.S. and India fall short in similar ways.
Epidurals were developed for pregnant women to address the severe pain of labour. In Australia approximately one in three pregnant women in labour has an epidural for pain relief.
Fear of perineal tearing is common as women prepare for childbirth. A simple warm pack can ease pain, prevent physical trauma and aid in recovery after your baby is born.
The clinical committee reviewing obstetrics services for the federal government’s Medicare review said suicide is one of the leading causes of maternal death in Australia. Is that true?
The reduction of childbirth to a ‘choice’ between surgery and vaginal birth with interventions comes from patriarchal views about the fundamental failure of the female body.
Physicians like me are learning about Zika along with our patients. This takes a dose of humility on our part and an understanding from our patients that we learn something new every single day.
More than 300,000 women give birth in Australia each year. Most (97%) give birth in hospitals (72% of these in public and 28% in private), while 0.3% are born before they arrive at hospital.
One of the most common surgical procedures undertaken in the world today – one that every human alive has undergone – is the clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord at birth.
It’s difficult to imagine how something as big as a baby’s head can come out of what appears to be a relatively small space. But during childbirth, the perineum – the area of skin and muscle between the…
In the much-loved British TV drama Call the Midwife, women are offered care from dedicated midwives through pregnancy, labour and birth. The midwives are therefore able to get to know the women and practice…
Think of childbirth and you’re likely to picture a woman lying on her back on a hospital bed. That’s the position most (78%) Australian women adopt to give birth birth, despite growing evidence that being…
Many women believe they’re likely to go through labour and give birth without medical intervention. But data from Victoria shows that, more often than not, labour does require intervention. The disconnect…