The Great Birth Rebellion

Women are at risk of violence in life, and sadly also during labour and birth, but what does violence against women look like during birth? Mel explains what obstetric violence is, how common it is and how to reduce the chances of being exposed to violence during your birth. As women we take steps to keep ourselves safe in life, and unfortunately we have to be just as strategic during birth.   Get...

What an episode! This one had me hooked! Did you realise we have tiny organisms that live on and in every part of our body; collectively it’s called the ‘microbiome’. A healthy microbiome directly links with health benefits in pregnancy for you and the lifetime health of your baby (way more than you think!). This week, microbiome expert Rebecca Edwards from @activatedprobiotics explains how to pro...

Doulas play a specific role at birth, but what is it? I interviewed Doula Poppy Child from @popthatmumma about what a doula is, what they do, how much they cost and questions to ask when hiring one. Poppy is also a Hypnobirthing practitioner. You can see more of Poppy’s work here and Poppy would love to give you 20% off at the check out when you use the code MELANIE. We also interviewed Poppy abou...

Having a vaginal birth after caesarean can be a tricky thing to navigate BUT there are some strategies that will increase your chances of having a vaginal birth if that’s what you are planning for. This week I spoke with Marissa from @twiceblessed about what she did to have the VBAC she hoped for and I also add my top tips and educational pops as we went. This one is for you if you are planning a...

Hypnobirthing is a powerful technique that you can use to work with pain in labour. It’s easy to learn and adds to your tool kit if you are gathering strategies to help you feel calmer in labour and improve your chances of avoiding unwanted interventions and pain medications. Get Mel's ‘Guide to giving birth without pain medication’ here. Registration for the great birth masterclass that Mel spoke...

A great birth doesn’t happen by accident, there are things that you can do to influence the events of your birth. In this episode Mel shares some strategies that you can apply to increase your chances of having a GREAT birth. Get Mel's ‘Guide to giving birth without pain medication’ here. For more strategies you can join Mel’s free masterclass www.melaniethemidwife.com/great This masterclass is li...

You can be the mistress of your birth experience. Let’s talk about what part YOU play in what happens to you during your birth. This week I speak to Alice Bleathman and we derive lessons from her birth story about what steps you can take to increase the chances of experiencing a birth without regrets. There are things you can do to increase your chances of a great birth and we explore these today...

There are controllable factors that you can start using today that will reduce the chances of your vulva or vagina tearing during childbirth. This episode lists the strategies that you, your care team and partner can help with to try and increase the chance of your vulva remaining intact. Get Mel's ‘Guide to giving birth without pain medication’ here. Episodes that complement this episode: 72 - Ep...

The BIG BABY trail, The SWEPIS study, the ARRIVE trial, The INDEX trial and the 35/39 trial. The 5 BIG studies that often get used to endorse the use of induction for suspected big babies, women over the age of 35 and over 41 weeks pregnant. Mel and Hannah Dahlen pick apart the studies to help you understand them and use them to inform your decisions around induction of labour. Get Mel's ‘Guide to...

Mel is talking all about the labour process. The focus is on how you can identify and understand labour and how it progresses so you can be prepared for each part of it. We start from early labour all the way through to pushing out your baby. Get Mel's ‘Guide to giving birth without pain medication’ here. Episodes that complement this episode include: 149. Increase your chances of vaginal birth 14...

Are you exploring the option of homebirth? Today Renee Bargh , mum of 2 and television host tells the story of her 2 different births. One through MGP with an epidural and posterior baby and the other at home with a private midwife. I give commentary throughout to help you learn more from her story as we explore the option of giving birth at home and convincing her anaesthetist husband that it was...

Want to increase your chances of a low-intervention vaginal birth in hospital? This episode is for you! If you attend hospital to give birth, you have approximately a 50% chance of having a vaginal birth without an episiotomy, vacuum or forceps or caesarean section. There are things you can do to increase your chances. This episode gives 5 clear strategies that you can implement today to make a BI...

Routine vaginal examinations can cause more harm than good. Sometimes they are needed but most of the time they are not. Vaginal examinations are offered as routine surveillance during most births, but you have a choice. Know that if you don’t want one, that's ok, because there is no evidence that shows that routine vaginal examinations improve outcomes - in fact, it’s more likely to be the opposi...

Today we talk about all of your ultrasound options in pregnancy. Mel and her guest Phil Jones (sonographer) discuss the full menu of ultrasound options offered to women during pregnancy, right from the dating scan all the way through to the ‘post-dates’ ultrasound. We talk about how to prepare for each scan, how much they cost, what each scan looks for and all the nitty gritty questions that women...

If you’re pregnant, chances are you’ll feel nauseous or be vomiting. It’s really common! And in this episode I explain 10 strategies that could help reduce and manage your symptoms. This episode is free to you the listener because of our generous sponsor Hydramama. Keira Rumble the creator of mini and me is offering great birth rebellion listeners 20% off Hydramama electrolyte drink when you use t...

What to do when you’re ‘over-due’, what does it mean to be over-due? Is it dangerous? Why do they want to induce you? Is your placenta failing or your baby in danger? Mel looks into due dates, how they are calculated and your options if you go over your due date. Get Mel's ‘Guide to giving birth without pain medication’ here. You might also like to listen to episode 84 - the myth of the failing pl...

Can you decline recommendations given to you by your care provider? And If you do, what kind of reaction can you expect. In this episode Mel gives insider details of how the maternity care system works and some of the reactions you might expect if you say ‘no’ to medical recommendations. Mel gives actionable strategies that you can employ in the moment but also strategies that will help you advoca...

Iron deficiency and anaemia in pregnancy occur for nearly 50% of women. In this episode, Mel and her guest Jaimee Smith discuss how to identify iron deficiency early in pregnancy to prevent anaemia, and also how to treat anaemia if it occurs. We discuss diet, supplement and iron infusion options This episode is sponsored by the convergence of rebellious midwives. Get your ticket to The Convergence...

Are you pregnant and have been told that your baby is too big or too small? Do they want to induce you or give you a caesarean because of it? This is for you if you’ve been told your baby is too big or too small. In this episode Mel shared her Guide to giving birth without pain medication, you can get it here . This episode is sponsored by Poppy Child from Pop That Mumma. Discover how to manage pa...

The incredible science of how our brains change during pregnancy, birth and parenting with Neuroscientist Dr Sarah McKay. Sarah is the author of The Women's Brain Book—The Neuroscience of Health, Hormones and Happiness, Baby Brain—the surprising neuroscience of how pregnancy and motherhood sculpt our brains and change our minds (for the better) and neuroscience for dummies. Sarah is the director o...

This is part 2 all about pre-eclampsia. Episode 138 and 139 give a deep dive into what preeclampsia is, ways to prevent and diagnose it, and today we talk about what happens if you’ve got it. Get Mel's ‘Guide to giving birth without pain medication’ here. Get more from the Great Birth Rebellion Podcast Join the podcast mailing list  to access the resource folder from each episode at&nbsp...

In this episode Mel finally talks about pre-eclampsia (she can avoid it no longer!). Mel explains what pre-eclampsia is, how to diagnose it, how it develops and some strategies on how to prevent it. In this episode (part 1) you also learn about who is more likely to get pre-eclampsia so that preventative strategies can be better targeted. The episode was sponsored by The convergence of rebellious...

Professor Hannah Dahlen joins Mel to discuss modern day Midwifery and the hope that she has about reclaiming our Midwifery heritage. Hannah believes that we are SO close to a birth utopia where women will have access to Midwives and whose Midwives can work autonomously with women. Find out the reason for her optimism. Hannah explains that the only option at this point to go backwards in the progre...

The RSV vaccine during pregnancy has just been approved for use in Australia and the Australian government is providing it for free to all pregnant women. Mel goes over the research about the vaccine's effectiveness and the results of the 3 studies done so far. There is limited short term data but no long term data since this is a new vaccine. Get Mel's ‘Guide to giving birth without pain medicati...

Mel invites experienced Lactation consultant and published author Lucy Webber to the podcast to ask her Breastfeeding questions. Lucy answers some questions that address the most common breastfeeding myths that she is always confronting in her work and I also threw in some listener questions! Get Mel's ‘Guide to giving birth without pain medication’ here. You can follow along with Lucy via Faceboo...