Consumer advocacy organisations are significant agents for change in maternity care. In this episode, we delve into the powerful story behind The Perth Birth Link, an advocacy group founded in 2023 to address preventable birth trauma and help women find empowerment through education and support. Being the new kids on the block in this space has given Amy O'Meagher, (the founder of Perth Birth link) a unique view into the culture, triumphs and tragedies of what it means to be a consumer...

The medicalisation spectrum is 101 when you are planning a birth that feels safest and most satisfying to you. Understanding where you sit on the medicalisation spectrum is the key to planning the rest of your pregnancy, birth and postnatal care. In this episode Mel explains the medicalisation spectrum with reference to where your care provider and chosen birth location would also fit along the spectrum. Mel discusses the 2 types of birth philosophies and where they fit on the spectrum....

What does the research say about being over 35 years old and pregnant? Mel looks through some research papers to help you understand how your care provider is calculating risk and outcomes and if these calculations mean anything at all! Are you really having a ‘high-risk’ pregnancy is you are in the ‘advanced maternal age’ category - and don’t even get me started on the ‘geriatric’ pregnancy terminology. Get more from the Great Birth Rebellion Podcast Join the podcast mailing list to...

When a baby is in a breech (head up) position for labour and birth, women are faced with unique challenges of care provider incompetence and fear. Many clinicians don’t know how to or refuse to attend vaginal breech births. They cite increased risk and danger, but is this correct? Is it more dangerous to give birth to your breech baby vaginally or by caesarean section? Dr Rixa Freeze, president of Breech without Borders talks us through the research and we discuss the concept of never being...

Getting your baby to sleep might feel like the hardest part of your parenting journey. Have you ever been advised to let you baby ‘cry it out’ or been told to just ‘put your baby down’? Or rely in sleep cues and routines? You might want to listen to this episode where Dr Pamela Douglas explains how parenting can be easier, more joyful and less exhausting when we consider the research around infant sleep - because it is certainly not on the side of hours of bouncing a baby to sleep. Dr Pamela...

Curious about what it takes to set up a business as a private midwife? This is for Australian Midwives who want to know the steps to becoming a private midwife. This is the first in a free-series that is running all week at www.melaniethemidwife.com between October 20th-25th 2024. If you are listening after the 24th, you've missed out on free week but you can register for next year at www.melaniethemidwife.com  Get more from the Great Birth Rebellion Podcast Join the podcast mailing...

Mel brings some practical tips for preparing for a posterior labour. You never know which labour and birth are going to be impacted by posterior position of the baby (facing the front instead of facing the back) and the labour pattern can be very different. Being prepared for a posterior labour also means you are ready for any labour. This episode is great preparation for labour full stop, but you’ll also be prepared for a posterior labour. For more episodes to help you with posterior labour...

Ever wondered what Mel chose for her own births? And how it all went? Today she spills the tea about her own personal births through an interview with Anna from Sacred Birth International who interviewed Mel about her birth stories on the Natural Birth podcast… we can think of no better way to celebrate 1 MILLION DOWNLOADS for the Great Birth Rebellion podcast than to share a raw story about the choices Mel made for her own pregnancy and birth journeys - you’ll hear what I did for my tiny...

Posterior labour refers to the circumstance where the baby is facing toward the front to the womans pubic hair as opposed to anterior where the baby is facing the womans bum during labour. The position of the baby has an impact on the process and outcome of labour and in this episode Sarah Langford (midwife, mother and PhD research candidate) talks about her research on posterior labours. We quickly learn what little is known about the experience of posterior labour and what Sarah’s work is...

For tickets to the convergence of rebellious midwives 2025 go to www.melaniethemidwife.com  In this episode Mel explains exactly how to change the system. This is an excerpt of the opening address that she presented at the convergence of rebellious midwives conference 2024 and draws from her farming experience to give an example of how real and lasting change is made in nature and how this translates to how we can change the maternity system at every level The convergence of rebellious...

For tickets to the convergence 2025 to hear Ina May Gaskin go to www.melaniethemidwife.com    We speak with Dr Kate Levett and Heidi Williams about the use of acupuncture and acupressure in pregnancy. We discover the weight of evidence on the side of acupuncture and Kate and Heidi explore novel ways of integrating it within the maternity care system and acuneedling for midwives.    Kate website: https://drkatelevett.com/ https://drkatelevett.com/video-resources-acupressure-for-labourDr...

The Spinning Babies® techniques are well known the world over for providing the opportunity for women to promote the physiological function of their bodies and prevent pathology in the birth process. Today we welcome Gail Tully, Midwife and creator of Spinning Babies® to discuss her work.  This episode is generously sponsored by The Birth Sling by Dr Jess Michaels. As a special gift to Great Birth Rebellion listeners, use code GBR24 for a 10% discount at www.thebirthsling.com. To get on the...

Women are offered CTG’s in the hope that complications can be identified and intercepted… but is this what happens? Are there better outcomes when we include CTG as part of maternity care? Today Mel invites Dr Kirsten Small to ask if there is EVER a good reason to offer or accept a CTG. Kisten  is a career academic, retired obstetrician and an industry expert in the use of CTG foetal heart rate monitoring, Kirstens PhD is on the topic of CTG and She is the mistress and owner of...

Most women will be offered CTG monitoring through their labour… but does it make a difference to the health of the mum and baby? In this episode Mel invites Kirsten to talk about the use of CTG foetal heart rate monitoring during labour and birth. This is a conscious re-edit of episode 12 - we’ve bumped it here to be part of our CTG series through episodes 111, 112 and 113.  Check out Kirstens work @birthsmalltalk on instagram and twitter and www.birthsmalltalk.com    To get on the mailing...

Women are offered CTG’s through pregnancy in the hope that complications can be identified and intercepted… but is this what happens? Are there better outcomes when we include CTG as part of pregnancy care or assessments? Today Mel invites Dr Kirsten Small who is a career academic, retired obstetrician and an industry expert in the use of CTG foetal heart rate monitoring, Kirstens PhD is on the topic of CTG and She is the mistress and owner of birthsmalltalk.com where she offers free and...

Everyone always asks, is homebirth safe? But the bigger question to be asking is, Is hospital birth dangerous? Mel looks at the biggest Australian Study which included over 1 million women to find the answer of, is hospital birth dangerous for women? And also takes a poke into history to discover how it came to be that 97% of women  will give birth in hospital in Australia To get on the mailing list for the podcast and to access the resource folders for each episode, visit...

The Village Community is a unique and replicable model to bring back the village community when caring for women and mothers. Aimee Honness from the village community lays out the details of how it works and how to bring back the village into your life and community. Caring for women postpartum has become countercultural… the village community is bringing it back. You can find out more about The village community on instagram @the.village.community And participate or donate to this initiative...

Have you ever thought about opening your own birth centre or birth house? Learn about the oldest existing independent birth house here in Launceston, Australia with Jaimee Smith, a private midwife who attends births at the birth house and who collated 35 years of statistics about the outcomes of births that occur there.  You can learn more about the birth house and Jaimee   To get on the mailing list for the podcast and to access the resource folders for each episode, visit...

Mel has a quick but important announcement to our regular podcast listeners... we love you and want to keep you in the loop. This is your podcast and we love you for being here. To help support this podcast consider:  Free options: 1. Get out your phone and Subscribe/follow the great birth rebellion podcast on which ever platform you listen on.  2. While you are there, leave a 5 star rating and write a review.  3. Pop onto your instagram account and recommend the podcast to your followers...

What are we rebelling against here at the great birth rebellion? we are rebelling against the lies we are told about birth… and I’m going to explain it all from the perspective of understanding authoritative knowledge - don’t worry! I’ll explain that too… I’m really proud of this one rebels, it's a goodie, for the baddies (you’ll get the joke once you hear the episode) If you want to join the other rebels at the Convergence of rebellious Midwives conference happening in Darling Harbour,...

  Todays topic is the decolonisation of birth. Mel invites Aimee Aroha (@aimeearoha) and Kirrily Dawn (@the_returning_ @kirillydawn) to approach this topic from an Indigenous perspective. We learn that decolonisation is about restoration of what was lost through colonisation. We start from the beginning for anyone who is new to this topic but go deep for people with a long term investment in decolonisation    You can follow Aimee’s work at: Instagram @aimeearoha Website...

Mel takes a deep look at the journal paper ‘Challenging the colonisation of birth: Koori women’s birthing knowledge and practice’ which describes Aboriginal womens birthing knowledge and practice prior to Colonisation and how these practices were impacted by invasion in 1788. This episode is best listened to in conjunction with episode 106. The decolonisation of childbirth.    To get on the mailing list for the podcast and to access the resource folders for each episode, visit...

Dr Melanie Jackson, the host of the great birth rebellion finally shares the findings from her 2014 PhD thesis, ‘Birthing outside the system: wanting the best and safest’ and explores the question of ‘why do women freebirth’ drawing directly from her thesis findings.    You can read her full thesis or just the shorter academic publications in the resource folder (get on the mailing list to get access to that) Melanie is speaking at the all4Maternity seminar session on July 23rd 2024...

In this episode Mel answers listener questions. This question asks about the outcomes and safety for babies who are born during water birth. We discuss additional guidance around what to do if the is meconium stained liquor at the time of birth and if there is an issue with babies being born partly in and partly out of water.  This is a premium hub member episode and the remaining answers for this podcast are in the premium hub: What questions should I ask my care provider if I am planning...