Our study found babies born via medical or surgical intervention were at increased risk of health problems, from jaundice and feeding issues, to diabetes, respiratory infections and eczema.
The most important thing is to keep the baby warm – put her on your chest covered with a warm towel.
from www.shutterstock.com
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.
Where birthing on country is not offered, women leave their families weeks before birth. Or she can choose to give birth in her community without skilled birth attendants, which is risky.
Fear and tension make the pain much worse.
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We’ve come a long way from the first documented successful caesarean. In 1500, Swiss farmer Jacob Nufer operated on his wife after a labour of several days. She went on to have five more vaginal births.
One of the key times women need reliable contraception is soon after they give birth. But they often have a hard time getting long-acting reversible methods, like IUDs and contraceptive implants.
Hurry up! We’re on the clock.
Baby birth via www.shutterstock.com
Are we overscheduling our children even from the moment of their birth? We live in an on-demand world. Movies are shown on request, food is delivered on call and drivers arrive when beckoned. As an economist…
During the first few minutes after birth a baby can receive 80-100 millilitres of blood – nearly a third of their blood volume.
Paul Hakimata Photography/Shutterstock
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.
Diabetic women are at greater risk of still births, miscarriages and delivery problems.
from www.shutterstock.com
A British woman has become the first diabetic to give birth naturally using an artificial pancreas.
Any information about birthing women are exposed to influences their expectations long before they directly receive maternity care.
Raphaël Labbé/Flickr
Medical intervention in birth is normalised by both maternity care providers and all kinds of media. Our research shows information about the benefits of natural birth help women make better choices.
Legislating for commercial surrogacy would enable Australia to overcome concerns about poorly regulated clinics overseas, such as this one in Thailand.
EPA/Rungroj Yongrit
Often emphasised in discussions about children’s best interests is the idea that certain ways of having and raising children are “natural”. For example, this word appears frequently in reference to how…
Inuit women carrying their kids in traditional hooded parkas. Indigenous midwifery programs have expanded across Canada and are linked to excellent health outcomes.
Spencer/Flickr
Tony Abbott spent most of this week in North East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. In the final of our Abbott in…
If you’re born underweight, like this little baby on the left, it can make a world of difference to your lifelong health.
Menzies Health
Tony Abbott is spending this week in North-East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories…