Where shall I give birth, what options are available? This is clearly only a question you can answer as I previously mentioned. But many of us don’t even research our options, I certainly didn’t, but we are all different and may find that we do not want to automatically go for what others are doing or have said is best. In fact, make sure that it is your opinion only that counts and not the ... Read More about Where shall I give birth?

Often it is not pain that is discussed when women talk about birth trauma (although it may have played a part) it is what was happening around them, especially with regards to whether they felt vulnerable and unsafe. It’s normal to feel vulnerable but you also want to feel safe which will have an impact on your experience. The questions to consider are: Did the birthing mum feel listened ... Read More about What constitutes birth trauma?

I have been very lucky to have been trained by Suzanne Yates, world renowned expert in shiatsu and massage techniques for pregnancy and birth and founder of wellmother.org. I recommend her book Beautiful Birth. Some useful massage or shiatsu techniques your partner can use that I’ve learned from Suzanne include: Bladder 67 (these are the names of the shiatsu/acupressure points) You can press ... Read More about Shiatsu points for use in labour

I wish so much that I knew about how powerful my body was when I had my two sons. Instead, like most women I had heard horror stories regarding giving birth and so like most women I had a degree of fear and anxiety around the birthing experience. I did not trust my body to be able to do what it was designed to do. It was only after postnatal surgery and a severe flare of endometriosis that I found ... Read More about Reclaiming Birth Wisdom

I mentioned in my book ‘Reclaiming Feminine Wisdom’ that I had felt great for a while after surgery, but then I had a flare up as I had stopped with all of my practices that had helped eliminate symptoms of endo. One of the things I realised was that it was summer and I was using a brand of suncream that included ingredients that had been linked to endometriosis. Even whilst putting it on I kept ... Read More about Suncream