CATHERINE BELL BIRTH CARTOGRAPHER
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Informed Birth Preparation: what it takes and what it gives

20/8/2020

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Informed Birth Preparation puts you in the drivers seat.  You get to determine the route, including any detours.  You choose the music, the companions and guide the conversation.  
Taking the drivers seat takes some responsibility.  And it gives you immense power.  In this post, we explore what it takes to have an informed and positive birth, and discover the benefits of taking the effort and stepping up to own your birth.  Are you ready?

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What do you need?

14/3/2020

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Frozen II is a tale of Power, of Leadership and of Change.
There are many layers to Frozen II.  Elsa’s journey of self discovery weaves through a tale of transformation for each of the main characters.  The story throws the spotlight on the destructiveness of the patriarchy, showing us the differences between Authoritative Dictatorship (familiar to us all) and Peaceful Leadership (a pipe dream, perhaps only seen in New Zealand?).  Frozen II is about Journeys and Love.
In this article, I look at the journeys of Ana and Kristoff as an analogy to the birth journey. 
If you have yet to experience Frozen II, this article may be a spoiler.


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Birthing the Placenta

30/12/2019

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This aspect of birth is often left out of the stories (read Think Birth's article, which includes a water birth video).  When creating a birth plan, it is often the overlooked part of preparations.  Most birth plans focus on contraction management (first stage), some will extend to the birth itself (second stage), but few will continue onto the birth of the placenta.  

Leaving this out of preparation can take a wonderful labour and birth, and turn it into a less than wonderful experience.  The moments of meeting your baby interrupted by the standard protocols of birthing the placenta. (see this peer reviewed article about women's experiences birthing the placenta)


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The Game of Birth

6/11/2019

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There is an unspoken reality lurking in the undertones of maternity care.

It is sinister and unconscious, a toxic unawareness that seeps into all communications and puts the weight of responsibility and expectation onto The Woman.

I will call this The Game of Birth.

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Book Review: About Bloody Time

3/10/2019

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Now published - About Bloody Time: the menstrual revolution we have to have from Victorian Women's Trust on Vimeo.


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Preventing Post Natal Anxiety and Depression

3/6/2019

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I was talking to someone about 'birth disappointment' the other day, and was told "women should not have such high expectations! Honestly women these days are just so fragile".  I took a deep breath before responding. If a healthy woman is expecting a 'normal birth' that is not a high expectation.  That is a reasonable and minimal expectation.  It is not 'fragile' to be disappointed by a birth that does not met this expectation.  For women to lower their expectations of birth, to the reality of the current birth climate, would set a new (horribly) low benchmark.  Along with "all that matters is a healthy baby" these comments tell us that women do not matter. First Class Maternity Care - it's a political choice (first class care should be the MINIMUM we expect!).  

You see...this birth disappointment may just be putting new mothers at greater risk of Post Natal Anxiety and ​Depression (1).   They begin their mothering journey full of self-doubt, and uncertainty. This can then be compounded by a mothering reality that does not meet their expectations.

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​Why can't we just be 'brutally honest'?

23/1/2019

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This post addresses a question many of us think, but know we can't voice without being offensive.  But the answer to why we can't be brutally honest it is not that it is offensive.  How can we just stand by when we feel a friend is making a 'bad' decision?
This is a question of support versus validation.  The desire comes from the heart...but is it actually True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary or Kind?  

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More than just another birth book

27/8/2018

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This is the speech given at The Book Launch.

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We should be focused on Choice, not Consent.

14/8/2018

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Consent is on everyone's lips.  From media discussion about 'enthusiastic consent' to medical requirements for 'informed consent', it seems pretty clear there is a problem with 'consent'.

If consent was what mattered, we would not need to prefix it with a qualifier.  

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The Birth Cartographer's Guide to The Internet

13/8/2018

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The internet is Big.  Mind blowingly Big. You won't believe just how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.
Yes, I am a Douglas Adam's Fan

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    Selected Articles by Catherine ​around the web:
    bellabirth.wordpress.com | evolutionary parenting | pregnancy.com.au | 
    ​| birth without fear | newborn mothers | PBBMedia |
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​ This website (including the Member Area) is free to access and free of adverts, ​thanks to contributions and sales of The Book
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All links are GOLD.  External links open in a new page.  ​I endeavour to only link to safe and non-spam websites. ​ ​This website, and any provided links and reviews, ​are intended as information only.  
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Creative Commons Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Editor B, Darling Starlings, SO Beach Party, Leonard Bentley, IQRemix, C. VanHook (vanhookc), lemonfilmblog, State Library of South Australia, Someone's Name, edenpictures, ShebleyCL, MassiveKontent, symphony of love, Kelly Sue, szwerink, Dawn Endico, fortfan, Jim Linwood, symphony of love, JLaw45
  • Home
    • About >
      • life BC
    • Is IBP for You?
    • Informed Decisions
    • Birth Support (doulas)
    • FAQs
    • Contact
    • information policy
  • Birth Cartography training
    • Intensive
    • Retreat
    • Birth Cartographer Online training
    • expressions of interest
  • THE BOOK
    • The Birth Map
    • ORDER TODAY
    • Event Pick up
    • Where can I buy the book?
    • Reviews and Testimonials
    • Talking about The Birth Map
    • feedback survey
  • Bellablog
  • Events
  • Stay up to Date
    • Newsletter Archive
    • StoryTime
  • Member Area
    • Read The Book
    • Support Group Discussion
    • Webinars and podcasts
    • links and recommended books
    • Resources (research articles)
    • example maps