The most common herbs used for natural healing for new mums are those that combat and relieve the after-effects of the powerful and transformational experience of birth. There is a long history of the use of herbs during early motherhood, speeding up wound healing, enhancing nutrition, calming the nervous system and boosting energy. Indeed in […]
Three and a half weeks overdue…Our second baby’s birth… 43.5 weeks gestation
Julie’s Birth Story of baby Ryan I felt the urge calling to have another baby. That was in July. With Spring came the first signs of feeling quite off colour and very tender breasts. I bought a pregnancy testing kit and next morning with a very early (4am) desire to urinate did the test. Having to wait a little while I […]
Why Baby Friendly Hospitals?
Baby-Friendly hospitals make special efforts to support mothers to breastfeed. The World Health Organization/UNICEF Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, recognizes hospitals that follow the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. When hospitals have more of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding in place, mothers breastfeed longer. The Baby-Friendly Ten Steps to […]
The Importance of Childbirth Breathing Skills by Julie Clarke
Fortunately when I had my first baby, birth breathing was everything; it was the most important component in any childbirth education class. The pre-natal class teacher, for the course we attended, was quite disciplined in following the same format every evening of 10 minutes of breathing practice at the beginning of each session and 10 minutes at the end. By […]
The best birth course is an experience… not a lecture by Julie Clarke
Sometimes my experiences as a childbirth and parenting educator amuses me, especially when I reflect on a session afterwards and realize I actually asked the group more rhetorical questions to stimulate their thinking, compared to the “fact finding” questions they may have asked me! Although yes, my groups come along here to learn, they actually […]
Here is a fly on the wall moment for you from my classroom… by Julie Clarke
Here is a fly on the wall moment for you from my classroom: Hello everyone and welcome to our session, we have a lovely session in front of us in which we will be focused on, labor and birth. Suddenly I notice a couple of the women prickle with tension; smiles disappear as their anxiety is raised […]
Positive birth stories can be inspirational for mums-to-be to read… here is a lovely one for you!
Special Note from Isabel: Thank You to all the women out there who shared their birth stories and experiences which gave me to determination to birth at home. Now it is my turn to write the story I have been so looking forward to… I hope I help inspire another mum-to-be to have the great confidence […]
Childbirth Education Training by Julie Clarke
I recognized the need and the chance to be able to really help other woman via pre-natal courses, but first had to undertake the year long course, with a community based organization known as Parents Centres Australia, which may have been similar to the (National Childbirth Trust) NCT in the UK. The course was fairly extensive and required […]
It is not the absence of fear is it the presence of courage by Julie Clarke
During my teenage and early adult years I was fascinated by biology and psychology, read a lot on those topics and selected courses that fed the yearning, which led me quite naturally towards becoming a childbirth and parenting educator. For me, I think if I had done the nursing training; which until recently was required in Australia, prior to midwifery training I think it would […]
A better future for maternity in Australia by Julie Clarke
Since the late 1980’s natural birth has grown in popularity and in availability in mainstream Australia, though our medical intervention rate has increased, which continues to create despair for many midwives, some obstetricians, childbirth educators and many informed motivated mothers-to-be and of course many mothers who have experienced medical intervention, especially if it were perceived to be unnecessary intervention. Our statistics in Australia show that […]
