Irish Pregnancy & Birth

On today’s podcast we’re going to take a change of pace and instead of talking to a healthcare professional, we are with documentarian, director and artist, Ariana Youmans Keenahan.   Ariana is compiling a coffee table book on breastfeeding which contains photos of mums and their breastfeeding stories. What I think is particularly worthwhile about this book is its inclusivity and celebration of diversity. I am delighted to have Ariana on the show to talk about her book and also about her own journey through pregnancy, birth and beyond. 

For our fourth episode, we have the man the Lancet called “one of the last real general surgeons”, the world-renowned obstetrician, Dr. Michel Odent.    While in charge of the surgical and maternity units of a hospital just outside Paris from 1962 to 1985, our guest developed a special interest in environmental factors influencing the birth process. He introduced the concepts like home-from-home birthing rooms, birthing pools and singing sessions for pregnant women.    After his hospital career he was involved in home birth, He founded  the Primal Health Research Centre, and designed a database, primalhealthhresearch.com, in order to compile epidemiological studies exploring correlations between what happens during the “Primal period” and health later on.    Today we’ll be talking about the science of birth and our relationship with nature. 

For our fifth episode, we are incredibly fortunate to have paediatrician and founder of the International Breastfeeding Centre, Dr. Jack Newmann.    Dr. Newman has been helping breastfeeding mothers and babies for over 38 years. He is an author of the definitive books: Dr. Jack Newman’s Guide to Breastfeeding and Breastfeeding: Empowering Parents.   Dr. Newman trained in pediatrics in Quebec City and then at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto from 1977-1981. During his time at the Hospital for Sick Children, he founded the first hospital-based breastfeeding clinic in Canada in 1984.  He has been a consultant for UNICEF for the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, where he evaluated the first candidate hospitals in Gabon, the Ivory Coast, and Canada.  In 2013, Dr. Newman was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for service to the community.  Find out more at www.dublinhomebirth.com or follow me @dublinhomebirth

For our third episode, we are incredibly lucky to have with us Patricia Hughes.   Patricia is an associate professor of Nursing & Midwifery in Trinity College, Dublin and has over 30 years’ of clinical and managerial experience from her work in Ireland, the UK and New Zealand where she has lead on a range of innovative service developments including the provision of a DOMINO community midwife service and a waterbirth facility at the Coombe.   She has recently founded Midwifery & Nursing Excellence which provides midwifery & Nursing expertise in quality improvement, risk management and service innovation.        Today we’ll be talking about informed consent and what choices women have in relation to how and where and when they give birth. 

Dr. Deirdre Daly is the lead researcher on the MAMMI study (www.mammi.ie) and an Assistant Professor of Nursing & Midwifery at Trinity College, Dublin. In this episode, we talk about the MAMMI Study, The WHAM course (https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/womens-health-after-motherhood), maternal mental health, maternal incontinence and sex after childbirth. Here is a list of supports put together by Cuidiú to support women's mental wellbeing. There are great resources out there.     https://www.cuidiu.ie/Supports_Parenthood_PostnatalDepression I hope you enjoy the show. Carolyn  

The mission of this podcast is to empower pregnant women with the most up-to-date information on all things pregnancy & birth by interviewing maternity health care professionals on a different topic every episode.  For our pilot show we are incredibly lucky to have with us one of the most influential midwives in Ireland, the professor of Midwifery in Trinity College, Dublin, Professor Cecily Begley.