Hello and welcome to this weeks episode of Mum Talk. This week I have the absolute pleasure of chatting to Lesley Gilchrist, Registered midwife, Co-Founder and Clinical Director of My Expert Midwife.  As a Registered midwife, Lesley has worked in some of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe and has extensive experience as a labour ward co-ordinator and community midwife. With over 16 years’ experience in bumps, births and babies, Lesley is an expert in pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal care, specialising in the effects and treatment of birth trauma.  Lesley is extremely passionate about tackling pregnancy taboos and improving the experience of pregnancy and childbirth by empowering women with choices that will make a significant difference and that is exactly what she joins us here today to do! We talk through preparing for birth and answer all your questions!  Talking points include: preparing for birth: perineal massage - what it is and how to do it preparing for a c-section preparing for a hospital birth (including what and how to pack your hospital bag) preparing for a home birth  how to protect your perineum during birth Listener questions include: - How is covid affecting the choices that labouring mums have? - Traumatic 1st birth, are second births genuinely better or should I be prepping for forceps? - Is there any way to avoid second baby being breech if first one was? - Would it be possible to use a birthing pool for VBAC? - Pros and cons of epidural  - Taking baby aspirin when TTC? - Is 2nd labour quicker? First was 2 hours! - Best position for delivery with prolapse? - Is it unlikely you can have an epidural with your second? - Is it ever possible to have a home birth VBAC? - Are there differences in care if giving birth age35+?  - How common is it to delivery vaginally after having a c-section with first baby? - Is a second c-section a good idea or more risky that attempting a VBAC? - I had pain down there until 6m pp, saw a pelvic floor physio but never discovered the cause. I’m wondering if it could be from pushing when baby wasn’t in the right position? - Are elective c-sections at 40 weeks or 38 weeks assuming everything good with mum and baby? A huge thank you to Lesley for coming on the podcast and sharing all her extensive knowledge and expertise with us. You can find more over on the My Expert Midwife blog, head to https://myexpertmidwife.com/blogs/my-expert-midwife . Thank you so much for listening, if you have enjoyed and haven't already please do leave a review and subscribe.  See you next week Emma xx