Vol 5 Issue 3
Focus on preparation for labour and birth
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Mindfulness preparation for birth
- Pregnancy, body image and infant feeding
- Teaching yoga in pregnancy
- Helping infants traumatised by family violence
- How women perceive risk in childbirth
- A preventative infant mental health intervention in South Africa
- Pre-conception education about valproate
- Childbirth and Parent Educators of Australia
Author: Lorna Davies
Description: Head of Midwifery at Ara Institute of Canterbury, New Zealand,
describes how an experience of trauma led her to the practice of mindfulness and Ito helping prospective parents adopt a mindful approach to birth and parenting.
Description writer: Head of Midwifery at Ara Institute of Canterbury, New Zealand
Author: Alexandra Smith
Description: Alexandra Smith, childbirth educator and tutor, discusses the culture of fear within the maternity services and why it feels so difficult to step away and adopt a healthier approach to care.
Description writer: Alexandra Smith, childbirth educator and tutor
Author: Jonathan Sher
Description: Risks of inadequate warnings about damage done by valproate exposure in utero. Assessing pregnancy potential/intentions, pregnancy tests before and during treatment with valproate, individualised counselling, informed consent using a new ‘risk acknowledgement form’, regular reviews of treatment, and effective contraception while taking valproate.
Description writer: Independent Consultant and Visiting Expert at Edinburgh University’s Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy (SCPHRP)
Author: Susie Orbach, Holli Rubin
Author title: Dr Susie Orbach
Description: Body image concerns are widespread. They are impacting on how women relate to their physical needs in pregnancy and post-partum, interrupting the focus on bonding with baby in the crucial early months when attachment behaviours are being established
Description writer: Susie Orbach, PhD
Holli Rubin Psychotherapist specializing in body image
Author: Virginia Campbell
Description: This article explores how coping techniques can be taught effectively in antenatal classes. A grounded theory study of the impact of yoga for pregnancy classes on women’s self- efficacy for labour and birth. The article will summarise current YfP and self-coping literature before describing the strategies yoga teachers include in their classes.
Description writer: Formerly Head of Education and Practice at NCT, UK
Author: Jenny Griffiths
Description: Article describing the visit of Jenny Griffiths to the United States to learn from leaders in the field about Child-Parent Psychotherapy and its role in helping children who have witnessed domestic violence.
Description writer: Primary Infant Mental Health Specialist & Clinical Psychologist
Author: Katharine Frost, Nicola Dawson, Tony Hamburger
Description: This paper describes a preventative infant mental health project, the Ububele Home Visiting Project (UHVP), designed specifically for residents of Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, South Africa. The paper describes the evolution of the project as well as the important and particular roles of selection, experiential learning and reflective supervision.
Description writer: Katharine Frost: Clinical Director and Educational Psychologist, affiliated to Ububele Educational and Psychotherapy Trust
Nicola Dawson: Head of Ububele Umdlezane Parent Infant Programme and Counselling Psychologist
Tony Hamburger: Clinical Psychologist and Founder of Ububele Educational and Psychology Trust
Author:Virginia Campbell,
Charlotte Whitehead
Description: Many women find that counting helps them in labour. This exercise facilitates one way of doing this, combining it with practising breathing, positions and movement. It shows how distraction, focused breathing and being active can positively affect our perception and experience.
Description writer: Virginia Campbell, Formerly Head of Education and Practice at NCT, UK
Charlotte Whitehead, Yoga for Pregnancy Tutor and Pathway Lead at NCT, UK
