Mirjana Medic - Birth Services

09/07/2022

Great idea reiterating how important informed consent is.

While working as doula, I’ve left a couple of births feeling traumatised myself. I’ve witnessed obs sweep in and make a room look like a friken murder scene (episiotomy) without the woman giving her informed consent. Birthing woman or myself (as doula ) having no idea what is going on at the time.

Understanding that there are some situations that require an emergency procedure to be performed, informed consent should still be established.

1 in 3 mothers left traumatised is huge. This needs to change.

One of the reasons I decided to become a birth doula, was meeting a lady I never met before, shed tears to me about her birth, not understanding why she even had a c/section.

Did she consent to something she didn’t understand ? 😠

This s**t needs to change

Birth trauma consent classes rolled out to spare mothers 'coercive' experiences - ABC News

Ella Porter says she was subjected to treatment against her will while she was giving birth to her son. A new program is aiming to try and lower the rate of birth trauma.

06/07/2022

I enjoyed our first catch up, we had coffee, had a good chat about expectations, then played the Game of Birth. A lot of thinking and questioning arises about all sorts of things when playing this game. Fears, possibilities, hospital procedures and protocols, informed decision making, active birth, process of birth…and the the list goes on. This game is great because it really gets clients thinking…. That’s what we want!

18/06/2022

10x You know your a birth worker when……
1)You own a model of a pelvis.
2) Placentas are exciting to you.
3) Can talk about birth all day.
4) Dance with women in labour.
5) Have about 55 books on birth.
6) Receiving bloody text messages in the middle of the night is true norm.
7) You say the words ‘let go’ and ‘breathe’ about 100 times during a birth.
😎 Sitting in a dark quiet hospital bathroom with a client makes you happy.
9) You’ve cooked lasagna as many times as a chef.
10) Cry happy tears witnessing the strength of woman birth their baby.

Can any birth workers share some humorous ones here?

16/06/2022

The Game of Birth is a great way to easily, realistically and nicely introduce the reality of birthing in the Australian maternity system. The game is aimed at low risk pregnancies, and for those wanting to have a natural labour and birth at hospital. I find that it really gets my clients thinking about their decision points for throughout their pregnancy, labour and birth, as well as understanding where these decisions may lead them.

A friendly way to getting to know each other too.

I highly recommend this game as a tool for birth workers.

11/06/2022

A woman’s body work instinctively and tirelessly to birth her baby. Her body pushes the baby out via the va**na, by what is called the Ferguson Reflex, also known as the ejection reflex.

It seems as if it is degrading to women how so many obstetricians boast about their amazing job ‘delivering babies’. Can we set this straight Doctor. You do not deliver these babies.

The mother does.

You are merely there in your expertise to ensure mum and baby are all well in the case of a medical emergency.

You do not deliver these babies.

I do acknowledge that you cut some babies out, when needed, however

you do not deliver these babies.

The mother does.

Birthing or delivering your baby is a powerful rite of passage, don’t let anyone tell you they delivered yours.

08/06/2022

Every woman should consider the support of a doula. If you are on the fence about hiring one, don’t be. Go for it. The doula will provide you with so much support. Doulas are strong and special. They know and see so much. They are much much more than a student midwife, because they work for you! The reason why I am mentioning this is because many women would love extra support so they look to have a student midwife join her journey.. this is great, and they do provide a level of support, and they would be so appreciative to learn beside you, however the student works for the hospital/ university and has a duty to them. A doula has a duty to you, is not one sided and will ensure you are informed, and will support you in ways a student midwife cannot.

07/05/2022

Happy International Day of the Midwife (i’m just a little late)

I will never forget the midwives that looked after me during my first pregnancy and birth in 2017 - through the Darwin Home Birth Service. Their trust in women and the birth process was all i needed to trust myself and my babies ability to allow it to unfold the way it did. They definitely contributed to the way i view birth today. True midwives.

I even recall my main midwife guessing Mila’s weight precisely!

Just a few snaps of my labour and birth with my first baby Mila. The experience that changed who i was completely, not only from maiden to mother, but changed my whole perception of so much more!

A little excerpt from the birth story of Mila written by my partner Dave. He’s great with words.

“I was very anxious during the 15 minutes it took for the midwives to arrive. The contractions continued without interruption, and Mirjana was very lucid in-between. The quick response from the midwife made me suspect the baby might not be that far off. I saw the car pull up and was instantly relieved.

My feelings changed the moment our two amazing midwives walked through the door. The experts were here! From the first time we met our midwife we had confidence that we were in good hands, and her presence was calming. The excitement of having our baby returned to me.

“You are amazing”, she said to Mirjana.

They listened to one contraction, and then the support midwife took me down stairs for me to show her the bath set up and how to fill it. I was then sent back upstairs to be with Mirjana.

“Would you like to go for a walk downstairs?” The midwife asked her. I couldn’t hear her answer but it seemed as though she wasn’t too interested in going anywhere.

“I think you will feel a lot better once you get into the pool”, she added.

One thing that struck me was the way the midwives conducted themselves around Mirjana. They were so unobtrusive, quiet, calm and supportive without ever unnecessarily interrupting the labour. The midwife took her blood pressure and then had a go, unsuccessfully, at finding the babies heartbeat with the doppler. A brief moment of anxiety for both of us.

“The pool is ready”, the support midwife advised.”

The full story can be found https://birthmother.com.au/blog/milas-birth-a-home-birthwritten-by-dad/

11/03/2022

These images are absolutely magnificent. Birth should no longer be the conservative taboo topic.. the birth itself should be celebrated and so too the rite of passage.

The beauty, euphoria and sometimes aching heartbreak of birth have been laid bare in this year’s annual Birth Photography Competition, which uncovers the globe’s most incredible birth images. The International Association of Professional Birth Photographers (IABPB) has revealed the breathtaking ...

04/03/2022

Many worry about tearing and episiotomy during . There are some ways you prepare your body in reducing your chances or severity of tears and also reducing your need for an episiotomy.

Pregnancy.
Perineal massage
Is a type of stretching of the va**na to prepare for childbirth. Typically, a pregnant person does the stretching on themselves by using one or two thumbs to widen the opening of the va**na, although sometimes a partner helps out too. Great to use a peri massage oil or a high quality organic oil. Please remember to have super super clean hands here.

Pelvic floor muscle training
This improves muscle control and provides strength and flexibility, which can support optimal maternal positioning and optimal dissent during birth. You can see a woman health physio for some great advice.

During labour
Hot Compress.
Using a hot compress such as a hot water bottle or hot wet flannel in between contractions is great. This softeners and increases blood flow to increase tissue flexibility and stretch. You can bring your own water bottle into the hospital and can request hot flannel compress with a

Upright Position.
Side lying, kneeling and squatting position.. anything that doesn’t compress the sacrum may reduce tearing. Great to follow your instincts in labour. Let your body and baby lead you.

Step into a warm bath.
Being in the warm bath again heats up the perineum, increasing blood flow to the perineum increasing flexibility and stretch.

Breathing through contractions
Light breathing or blowing during pushing has been found to reduce the risk of tearing. This helps reduce the force, by allowing the of the to flow through more gently, as well as the .

24/02/2022

Wow well this is interesting.

"Did you know that modern c-sections were invented by African women— centuries before they were standard elsewhere?

Midwives and surgeons living around Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria perfected the procedure hundreds of years ago. When a baby couldn’t be delivered va**nally, these healers sedated the laboring mother using large amounts of banana wine. They tied the mother to the bed for safety, sterilized a knife using heat, and made the incision, acting quickly as a team to prevent excessive blood loss or the accidental cutting of other organs. The combination of sterile, sharp equipment and sedation made the procedure surprisingly calm and comfortable for the mother.
After the baby was delivered, antiseptic tinctures and salves were used to clean the area and stitches were applied. Women rarely developed infections, shock, or excessive blood loss after a cesarean section and the most common problem reported was that it took longer for the mother’s milk to come in (an issue that was solved with friends and relatives who would nurse the baby instead). In Uganda, C sections were normally performed by a team of male healers, but in Tanzania and DRC, they were typically done by female midwives.

The majority of women and babies survived this, and when questioned about it by European colonists in the mid-1800s, many people in Uganda and Tanzania indicated that the procedure had been performed routinely since time immemorial.
This was at a time when Europeans had only barely started to figure out that they should wash their hands before performing surgery, when nearly half of European and US women died in childbirth, and when nearly 100% of European women died if a C section was performed.

Detailed explanations of Ugandan C-sections were published globally in scholarly journals by the 1880s and helped the rest of the world learn how to save mothers and babies with minimal complications.

So if you’re one of the people who wouldn’t be alive today without a C-section, you have Ugandan surgeons and Tanzanian and Congolese midwives to thank for their contributions to medical science." Juniper Russo

08/01/2022

Private Midwifery is amazing and carries amazing results. Look at these stats! With women all the way!