Rachel Elizabeth – Birth Confidence Summit
Links to resources mentioned in the Interview:
( Scroll down for Bio and Time Stamps)
Midwife Thinking is a great site by Dr. Rachel Reed with evidence based articles for example on The Nuchal Cord and Big Baby and baby positioning such as OP - back to back babies, which are really useful to reassure you on facts and options. Rachel Reed has also written a book called Why Induction Matters
AIMS- Association for Improvement in Maternity Services also has some great books including Am I allowed?
Information about the healing tool called Non Personal Awareness including a Free Process sheet to download and have a go yourself can be found here
Bonus content on Sweeps: Check out my previous interview with Independent Midwife Janie Al Alawi and her analogy of what sweeps are and why they are the bane of her life. The part about sweeps starts at 15.30.
Rachel is a Doula and Hypnobirthing Instructor at Creative Birth, sharing the message that birth can and should be a positive, empowering experience for mothers. Currently on maternity leave with her fourth child and with her two eldest children now teenagers on the autistic spectrum, she has a wealth of experience of parenting and supporting other parents.
Her family life has taught her that with the loving support from those around us , our toughest challenges can become our greatest achievements and she is particularly passionate about supporting women who wish to regain confidence is themselves and their bodies.
Time Stamps
Trusting our bodies through a physiological birth experience. Rachel learned to take responsibility for her health and then birth from living with a woman who cured her cancer through diet.
5.01 AT 21 her midwife thought she would want an elective c section and scared her by telling her she was too small to birth physiologically but Rachel was on a mission to inform herself and learn about positive birth including discovering hypnobirthing before it was well known ( 16 years ago)
Having a real person to meet and chat with who understood and trusted birth was a game changer for Rachel.
8.42 The fast and painless birth story of Rachel's first child.
13.44 Talking to her son about not getting his cord tangled and knowing it was around his neck without seeing it physically at birth. ( Link to Midwife Thinking article on Nuchal Cords.)
18.00 How different people can change the atmosphere of the room and asking for people to leave or choose a different person to support you.
20.00 Breast feeding support and how the physiological approach that is more current helped Rachel with feeding.
22.56 Recreating the skin to skin after the first hour particularly if you missed out on that time.
25.34 The birth story of her second child, much longer in back to back position and how her child communicated that she needed to dance and spin for her to come out. Being upright and being aware of your deal breakers.
Being supported and valued as a mum makes so much difference.
33.40 Third birth story with PROM - Premature rupture of membranes 11 days before she was born. Knowing what is right for you and when to ask for help.
39.10 We are not there to entertain the midwives.
40.41 We really do know what is going on with our own bodies and should be confident to call out when we need help and to wait when we feel like we need to wait.
41.10 Birth Story number 4, Rachel's five week old son. A gentle straightforward 'text book' birth with some meconium staining. Visualising the placenta coming out whole to help with the fear of a PPH.
47.00 Giving birth to the placenta and the oxytocin rush that can happen. What to do with your placenta, some options that we have experienced.
57.10 A discussion about sweeps. This has changed since Rachel had her first children and is now standard and routine and women are accepting this as just what we do. Encouraging women to question and make own choice. This is an intervention. (Bonus Content Janie Al Alawi explains why sweeps are the bane of her life. starts at 15.30 in video.) Sweeps are a symbolic handing over of your body to the establishment and can subtly undermine your confidence
1 hr 04 Rachel's vision for more women centred care that is not one size fits all
1.05 Trust yourself and if you have a wobble then find someone with no agenda to support you to explore.
No agenda being a key stone of the NPA teaching - link.
