The Midwives' Cauldron

In this episode, Katie takes Rachel behind the scenes for an in-depth exploration of donor milk—an intriguing topic that might just challenge everything you thought you knew about this practice.                                                     I have to caveat that some of the information in this episode is possibly going to get your knickers in a twist though – do we have any episode that don’...

In this episode Rachel and Katie dive into the fascinating topic of waterbirth (excuse the pun, but it was too good to leave out!).  I ask Rachel my burning questions and she stirs up the cauldron exploring everything from the history of waterbirth to the practicalities and the science behind it.  Listen in as we find out about: ·      When did women start birthing in water? ·      What does the r...

Dr Nils Bergman calls himself a Public Health Physician, and currently promotes and researches skin-to- skin contact on a full time basis. He is a Research Associate at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. Dr. Bergman was born in Sweden and raised in Zimbabwe, where he also later worked as a mission doctor. He received his medical degree (MB ChB) at the University of Cape Town, a Diploma in Child Hea...

In this episode Katie takes Rachel into a conversation about why the nipple shield topic gets Katie’s knickers in a Twist.   We discuss:  The history of their use from1500s to present day  How the research might not be telling the right story?  Why are they so controversial?  We ask do nipple shields affect how much milk the baby can take out of the breast?  When might be a good reason to use a ni...

 In this episode Rachel takes me on the path to enlightenment about the topic of the occipito posterior (OP) position in pregnancy, labour and birth!  I ask Rachel why she’s always been reluctant to cover this topic on the podcast!  And  sit down to discuss:  What exactly is an OP position?  Why it is considered a problem in our current maternity systems  Are there any problems caused by a baby in...

 In this episode it’s us together again in the cauldron and Katie chats with Rachel about all things early weight loss… and gain in babies.  We look at:  ·      Why do babies lose weight?  ·      What is normal weight loss? ·      Are there some babies who are more likely to lose more weight than others? ·      What’s with the panic once we hit the (not so magical) number of 10% weight loss?  ·   ...

In this episode Rachel talks to Katie about all the wondrous and darn right fascinating things about the amniotic sac.  ·      Why is the baby surrounded by fluid, and what is it made of? ·      Women are often told they have too much or too little fluid. Is this a problem? ·      We also discuss why Rachel is (slightly!) obsessed with the function of the amniotic sac during labour ·      We ask d...

In this episode I discuss with Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly all things pregnancy sickness and Hyperemesis.  Just a few months ago the scientific evidence was published highlighting what causes pregnancy sickness and hyperemesis. This breakthrough discovery came from the work of Prof Sir O’Rahilly, his team and the team from Dr Marlena S. Fejzo in the US. This ground breaking work gives hope to...

Lara Briden is a naturopathic doctor and bestselling author of the books Period Repair Manual and Hormone Repair Manual — practical guides to treating period problems with nutrition, supplements, and bioidentical hormones.  With a strong science background, Lara sits on several advisory boards and is the lead author on a couple of peer-reviewed papers .  She has more than 20 years’ experience in w...

Where and how women choose to birth matters. Born at Home is a stunning documentary film exploring what it takes to have a positive and transformative birth experience.  Empowered by the homebirth of her second child in 2020, Amanda Banks together with long term dear friend Eleanor Currie, set out to create a film exploring Homebirth in QLD. With a passion for telling stories about the human exper...

Wendy Jones BSc, MSc, PhD, MRPharmS is known for her work on providing a service on the compatibility of drugs in breastmilk and has been a registered breastfeeding supporter for 36 years. She is passionate that breastfeeding should be valued by all and that medication should not be a barrier. In her employed life she was a primary care pharmacist. Wendy left paid work 12 years ago to concentrate...

 Bonnie Hughes is a midwife, with a background in musical theater and journalism. She is the creator of the podcast series Making a Midwife, and an animation film-maker hobbyist. Bonnie is passionate about the power of story, and how the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we live, the stories we are part of, and the characters we play in those stories shape the future. Bonnie explores, both th...

Mavis Kirkham is Midwifery Professor Emerita at Sheffield Hallam University and has held honorary professorial positions at the University of Technology Sydney and Auckland University of Technology. After over forty years as a clinical midwife and researcher, she is interested in reflecting and writing on birth and midwifery in its wider context. A major theme of her research has been the way in w...

Dr Marina Weckend is a midwife and post-doctoral researcher based at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. Building on 13 years’ experience in midwifery practice, education and research in Germany, UK and Australia, Marina is committed to improving maternity care services through better understandings of birth physiology. Her current program of research focuses on natural fluctuations and p...

In this episode Katie talks with Rachel about late preterm and early term infants. These are the babies who have flown under the radar for far too long and often are the babies who struggle the most to get going with breastfeeding.  Come with us as we take a look at the current research, plans for feeding and what mothers are saying who have had babies born just that bit too early.  ·      How man...

Welcome to season 5!! This episode we have the marvelous Dr Sara Wickham back in the cauldron with us talking all about what’s in her new book Plus Size Pregnancy.  Sara talks to us about: ·      How women and families want, need and deserve better answers to their many questions about higher BMI and birth, and that midwives and birth workers need to know what the evidence says.  ·      Clarificat...

In this episode Rachel takes us into the world of ‘early labour’. She’s been promising it for a long while, and here it is. Get your lug’ols around this one!  In this episode we discuss: ·      What’s going on physiologically during this phase of childbirth ·      Beta endorphins and how they work for us during labour ·      The neocortex and what is so important about this part of our brain as we...

Welcome to the biggest episode yet! Well not really, but we have met a milestone I couldn’t have fathomed 3 years ago on 20th July 2020.  It has hit home what has happened over this time and how this 'little' podcast has grown into something really fantastic. And this is due to my dear friend Dr Rachel Reed, our amazing guests who have so kindly donated their time to come on, and to all...

In this episode Katie talks to Zainab Yate. Zainab is a Biomedical Ethicist, with a specialist interest in infant feeding. Zainab is Vice Chair and named qualitative lead on a paediatric flagged Research Ethics Committee Panel for the Health Research Authority (HRA) in the UK.  She's also been a volunteer breastfeeding peer supporter with the NHS for a number of years, is the owner-author of...

In this episode I take Rachel and you into the world of underhand marketing tactics going on right under our noses from the commercial milk formula (CMF) industry.  In Feburary 2023 the Lancet and WHO released a new 3 part series discussing the marketing of CMF. Rachel really did wonder if this would be of any interest to our listeners and I promised her that within a few minutes her knickers woul...

Rhea is a former PE teacher turned childbirth educator, and counsellor and feels privileged to have attended more than a thousand births in hospitals and home settings as a birth attendant as well as connecting with many more women, their partners and support people during birth preparation workshops and personal birth counselling sessions.  Rhea has spoken extensively around Australia and interna...

On this episode of the Midwives Cauldron, it’s just me and Rachel hanging out and stirring the pot discussing vaginal examinations (VE's)! We take a step back in history to look at how midwives originally used vaginal examination during labour and for what purpose We look at current guidelines  Rachel goes on her history trail for us to find the original research which guidelines are based on...

Professor Donna Geddes is the director of the Geddes Hartmann Human Lactation Research Group. Based in Perth, Australia, the group is made up of innovative and dedicated scientists and students that have a passion for developing measurements of lactation and breastfeeding and then applying them to make a difference to clinicians and breastfeeding families. The group makes a point of not only publi...

In this episode of the cauldron we have Dr. Sharon Blackie; award-winning writer, psychologist and mythologist. Her highly acclaimed books, lectures and workshops are focused on the development of the mythic imagination, and on the relevance of myth, fairy tales and folk traditions to the personal, cultural and environmental problems we face today. As well as writing five books of fiction and nonf...

In this episode we talk to Prof Helen Ball. Helen is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Durham Infancy & Sleep Centre . Helen studies infant sleep and the parent-infant sleep relationship from a biosocial perspective. Broadly defined, her research examines sleep ecology, of infants, young children and their parents. This encompasses attitudes and practices regarding infant sleep, be...