Top 25 Author Moms Who Blog...

Thanks to all the wonderful friends and fans who voted (and voted again) and made sure I finished at Number 11 in Top 25 Mom author bloggers. In a few days you’ll be able to read the associated interview. The question “how did you balance motherhood and writing?” gave me pause ... I never really know how to answer this one. Looking back I wonder. I started writing just after Dave was born, waxing lyrical about the benefits of preconception care, birth at home, family bed and more. I just kept adding odd comments - they all went down on a big tatty notepad. Twenty seven years on, with all the new whizz-bang technology and my embrace thereof, I still jot notes on pieces of paper, napkins, backs of invoices, whatever comes to hand when inspiration strikes.

So my first manuscript, which became four books began as occasional, random jottings. I can also remember trying to transcribe those jottings, using an early Apple Mac with a sleeping baby nestled in a sling - my hands reaching for the keyboard over the top of his head. It was a drawn out process, from Dave’s birth in 1985, to first submission of a complete manuscript in 1990, through rewrites after several rejections, to hook-up with my brilliant co-author, to our first contract in 1994, through another massive re-write, to publication of The Natural Way to Better Babies in 1996. After that the process was much easier, boys were older, I had more free time, I could write and edit while watching their sporting activities, even when Alex took them out and left me blissfully and totally free of interruptions for a few hours. But 'easier' is only relative to what went before... so that means that my most recent books, published this year have been an absolute breeze. Going back to the mass of material I’ve created for multiple channels (I never delete anything), the manuscripts were completed in about 8 weeks. 

But the greatest joy in their creation was the contribution of Dave (Better Baby #1) and his wife Pauline, both hugely talented chefs. Their recipes bring a fabulous element to both Healthy Parents, Healthy Baby and Healthy Parents, Healthy Toddler - an element which neither Francesca nor I were ever able to tackle. Another element of the new books, their integration with an interactive casual game, was helped along by many discussions and brain-storming sessions with Mikey, (Better Baby #2)! So my writing has really come full circle ... those years of trying to write while kids were underfoot are long gone and my latest writings have been hugely enhanced by those two young men who were once underfoot. Given that the boys inspired my books, I can see there's a wonderful balance between my writing and motherhood, in ways that I could never have anticipated and in ways I'm sure the Circle of Moms interviewer never intended when she asked the question!

Normal birth at home? Key experts say "Yes!"

I attended a lecture at University Technology Sydney (UTSpeaks) a couple of weeks ago. Professor Caroline Homer, Director of the UTS Centre for Midwifery, Child and Family Health, leads research in innovative models of midwifery care, midwifery practice and education. Her topic was “Home or Hospital - is there a best birthing option.” She was speaking almost entirely to the converted, to those consumers, midwives and other health professionals who feel very strongly that women in Australian society are currently disadvantaged when they express a desire to birth normally at home. So it was gratifying to hear that Professor Homer actually sees a future for more enlightened birthing practices in this country. She believes that strong consumer desire, the cost of birth in hospitals and more to the point, studies of large cohorts of women showing no difference in safety or outcomes, will drive the changes. She also questions whether medical professionals, regulators, politicians and journalists have a right to narrow the choices available to women. I came aware feeling a lot more optimistic about the future of women’s birthing choices in this country where currently only 0.3% of women give birth in the comfort of their own home. Maybe you could feel confident to swell those numbers after watching her lecture! Also good to see Associate Professor Michael Nicholl, obstetrician and gynaecologist and Director of Women’s and Children’s Health at Northern Sydney Local Health District give her such a resounding welcome and endorsement!

Familiar environment, less birth stress

Latest research from University of Technology, Sydney indicates a connection between the design of rooms where mothers give birth, their stress levels and the potential risk of such stress to newborns. In fact, those UTS researchers have received almost $250 million in Australian Research Council funds to explore how the features of a birthplace including design, objects, materials and colours could influence the outcome of a woman's labour.

Dohhhh, does anybody stop to review and ponder what has gone before? For 30 years I’ve been seeing studies showing that the place in which a woman feels most comfortable is the place where she is most likely to labour efficiently and effectively! Michel Odent and others have written extensively about the adverse effects of adrenaline (potential result of a move to hospital, admission and examination procedures and strange environment and attendants) on the efficiency of a woman’s contractions. Adrenaline directly counteracts the effects of oxytocin which makes the uterus contract, so my question is...  

Why oh why do we need another study? Surely to goodness the money would be better spent providing these wonderful environments - surely we need birth centres not more studies! Anyway, intuition or good old common sense should probably tell you the same thing - if you ever stopped to think about it! But here we go again, trying to prove the benefits of a natural, non-interventionist approach when the non-natural, interventionist approach gets put forward as the gold-standard that must be bettered! Flea wagging the dog I reckon! Anyway if you want a really sympathetic birthing environment, try your home turf - can’t be beaten!

More women wanting a natural birth

Last night I attended the premiere screening of a wonderful movie. Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein have made a damning expose of birth in the American hospital system (Australian statistics around intervention at birth are not quite as scary, but they're not cause for celebration either). The showing was part of the 25th Australian Homebirth Conference, and after being involved with this movement for more than 20 years, to see how it has grown and evolved, is truly exciting! This film should be mandatory viewing for school students (male and female) but last night, the huge, appreciative audience confirms that more and more women are reclaiming their birth from the medical fraternity and those numbers will keep on growing! This film is a must-see!