Joy Horner - Birth Joy

20/11/2025

19/11/2025

Inclusive language is so important.🏳️‍🌈

with - Let’s get Smarter in Seconds about inclusive language with for 🏳️‍⚧️ Week! 💕

Inclusive language is a good thing! It is simply language that includes people across the diversity of human experiences, backgrounds, and identities. It is often the more respectful, medically accurate, thoughtful, and honest language to use.

Some write off inclusive language as being “censorship,” “oversensitive,” or a “violation of free speech.” But using inclusive language doesn't restrict what ideas can be expressed, it simply encourages expressing them in ways that don't unnecessarily alienate, exclude, or harm people.

What kind of inclusive language are you familiar with? How do you feel about inclusive language?

18/11/2025

How have we got to a place where we don't trust the natural processes of labour and birth?

Pulling on a baby's head is never a good idea!

with - Shoulder dystocia happens when the babies head is born, and the shoulders get stuck.

This is a life threatening emergency. If baby can’t get unstuck he could die.

A baby could suffer from a broken clavicle, nerve damage, brain damage, and death. It’s a serious emergency.

We explored what the science has to say about this emergency and the science says we could bring this complication to almost 0 by doing less.

Let the baby take a pause, turn his head, and find his way. Quit tugging on them and pulling them out!!

The best way to protect your baby is for dad to catch his baby. We will be talking all about this in my navigating hospital birth call that starts on Friday.

18/11/2025

Don't be in a hurry to "bounce back" after childbirth.

17/11/2025

I generally stay away from terms like "catastrophic" or "non-catastrophic" uterine rupture because people use them to mean different things.

Medical research can use catastrophic rupture to describe a uterine rupture that results in a fetal demise. This is typically how physicians and midwives use the term.

But I see parents using catastrophic rupture to describe a “real" uterine rupture, in comparison to a uterine dehiscence.

But let's back up... a uterine rupture is a full thickness opening of the uterine wall. They can result in fetal demise about 6% of the time or be completely harmless.

I think of the OB I know who, during an elective cesarean, saw a 4cm uterine rupture. It wasn't bleeding, baby was completely fine, heart tones were normal. Just a 4cm opening sitting there.

So what is a uterine dehiscence? That is where the inner layer of the uterus opens, but the outer layer - the serosa - stays intact. It can also be called a "uterine window" or "incomplete uterine rupture." They are typically asymptomatic, benign, and often go undiagnosed at birth unless someone has a cesarean.

Sometimes women with dehiscences are told they had a uterine rupture... which makes it all even more confusing and frightening.

These varied definitions and overlapping language about uterine rupture makes conversations about "catastrophic" uterine rupture, or even "real" uterine rupture, difficult because people are talking about very different events and outcomes.

So call it what it is: a uterine dehiscence or uterine rupture that resulted in ________ so we are all on the same page... especially when talking to birthing people. Clear, unambiguous language is important.

If you want to learn the facts so you can maximize your VBAC odds, check out our online signature VBAC prep course, “The Truth About VBAC™ for Families:”
https://vbacfacts.com/tav

If you are a perinatal professional who wants to easily integrate the evidence into your practice so you can increase VBAC access in your community, our professional membership is for you: https://vbacfacts.com/membership.

Link in bio

17/11/2025

It's important to talk about the different types of possible scar separation in VBAC.

I generally stay away from terms like "catastrophic" or "non-catastrophic" uterine rupture because people use them to mean different things.

Medical research can use catastrophic rupture to describe a uterine rupture that results in a fetal demise. This is typically how physicians and midwives use the term.

But I see parents using catastrophic rupture to describe a “real" uterine rupture, in comparison to a uterine dehiscence.

But let's back up... a uterine rupture is a full thickness opening of the uterine wall. They can result in fetal demise about 6% of the time or be completely harmless.

I think of the OB I know who, during an elective cesarean, saw a 4cm uterine rupture. It wasn't bleeding, baby was completely fine, heart tones were normal. Just a 4cm opening sitting there.

So what is a uterine dehiscence? That is where the inner layer of the uterus opens, but the outer layer - the serosa - stays intact. It can also be called a "uterine window" or "incomplete uterine rupture." They are typically asymptomatic, benign, and often go undiagnosed at birth unless someone has a cesarean.

Sometimes women with dehiscences are told they had a uterine rupture... which makes it all even more confusing and frightening.

These varied definitions and overlapping language about uterine rupture makes conversations about "catastrophic" uterine rupture, or even "real" uterine rupture, difficult because people are talking about very different events and outcomes.

So call it what it is: a uterine dehiscence or uterine rupture that resulted in ________ so we are all on the same page... especially when talking to birthing people. Clear, unambiguous language is important.

If you want to learn the facts so you can maximize your VBAC odds, check out our online signature VBAC prep course, “The Truth About VBAC™ for Families:”
https://vbacfacts.com/tav

If you are a perinatal professional who wants to easily integrate the evidence into your practice so you can increase VBAC access in your community, our professional membership is for you: https://vbacfacts.com/membership.

Link in bio

17/11/2025

Such an important issue. Not listening to women and birthing people can cost lives!
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With regard to Labor & Delivery specifically:
•If you are presenting for a labor assessment, ask what your FULL cervical exam is. Often you will get just the number of centimeters dilated. However, active labor leads to changes in dilation, effacement, softness and station. Dilation = cms dilated, effacement = how thin the cervix is, softness is just that, a cervix not in labor is often firm, station = how high/low the fetal head is in the pelvis. So, even if your dilation hasn’t increased significantly, your cervix may have changed in other ways that indicate labor.
•If you don’t feel comfortable about your care. Activate the chain of command. Request to speak to the charge nurse. If the physician caring for you is in house, request to speak to them face to face.
•If you don’t feel comfortable going home due to pain, you can ask what other options you have. Can you stay for additional observation and subsequent cervical exam? •Ask, if they’ve consider assessing you for other sources of pain, if they don’t believe you’re in labor. Ideally, they’ve already done this when you were initially examined but ask anyway.
•Have a support person with you. As we’ve seen from recent events, they can help advocate for you and document your experience.

In General:
-Use your voice! You have power and absolutely have a say when it comes to your health.
-Ask questions, write them down so you don’t forget them.
-Bring a family member, friend or other support person with your to visits and during admissions. Having another set of ears and eyes is essential.
-Get a second opinion, this mostly applies to outpatient settings. HOWEVER, if you are admitted you can request second opinions for specialists. You can even request that your care be managed by another team.

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16/11/2025

Get • Slate grey nevus, also known as blue-grey spots or congenital dermal melanocytosis, are a type of birthmark that are typically flat and blue-grey, or sometimes purple, in colour.

They are most common on babies with Black and Brown skin and are generally found on the sacrum and buttocks, but can also be observed on arms and legs.

Slate grey nevus are NOT bruises. They are simply the result of pigment cells, or melanocytes, not reaching the surface of the skin.⁣ They do not hurt and generally require no treatment; they often fade by the age of 4.

If you identify a slate grey nevus when doing a baby examination, or NIPE, it is important to document it. This is to avoid it later being mistaken for a bruise.

Finally - you may have heard these birthmarks called ‘Mongolian blue spots’. This is derogatory, racially insensitive terminology and should NOT be used. If you hear it used in practice, please take the time to correct it. We can all play our part in decolonising language and midwifery education.

📸: 💕

16/11/2025

Midwifery today produce information packed resources like these!

Read the books in our Tricks of the Trade Series series for useful ideas and techniques that will help you help babies and mothers at births you attend. You'll learn tricks and tips from practicing midwives, childbirth educators, naturopaths, doulas and parents. Choose from three print books and two e-books
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