The topic for this episode is the Golden Hour, and the team are joined by student midwife Aimee Honeysett and midwife and midwifery lecturer Ola Ogbuehi as they consider the physiology of the first hour after birth and some of the practices which may be more or less helpful during this time.

Resources

Eyal Abraham, Talma Hendler, Orna Zagoory-Sharon, Ruth Feldman,
Interoception sensitivity in the parental brain during the first months of parenting modulates children's somatic symptoms six years later: The role of oxytocin,
International Journal of Psychophysiology, Volume 136, 2019, Pages 39-48, ISSN 0167-8760,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.02.001. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167876017303185)

Care Quality Commission (2020) 2019 Survey of women's experiences of maternity care: statistical release. https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20200128_mat19_statisticalrelease.pdf

Christensson, K., Siles, C., Moreno, L., Belaustequi, A., De La Fuente, P., Lagercrantz, H., Puyol, P. & Winberg, J. (1992) Temperature, metabolic adaptation and crying in healthy full-term newborns cared for skin-to-skin or in a cot. Acta Paediatrica, 81 (6-7), 488-493.

Moore, E. R., Anderson, G. C., Bergman, N. & Dowswell, T. (2012) Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (5), N.PAG.

Jennifer L. Neczypor, Sharon L. Holley, Providing Evidence-Based Care During the Golden Hour, Nursing for Women's Health, Volume 21, Issue 6, 2017, Pages 462-472

Odent M (2002) The First Hour Following Birth: Don’t Wake the Mother! Midwifery Today, Issue 61, Spring 2002.

 Mikko J. Peltola, Lane Strathearn, Kaija Puura, Oxytocin promotes face-sensitive neural responses to infant and adult faces in mothers, Psychoneuroendocrinology, Volume 91,
2018, Pages 261-270, ISSN 0306-4530, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.02.012.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306453017311927)

In this episode of the Tea & Toast podcast, the team discuss mental health and mental ill health before and after birth. Joined by midwifery lecturer and researcher Dr. Catriona Jones, they discuss why this can be such a vulnerable time for parents' mental health and consider what strategies and support might help.

Accessing support around mental health in the perinatal period

If you have any concerns about your own or someone else's mental health before or after birth, the team strongly recommend you talk to one of your healthcare team - who you pick within the team is less important than choosing someone you feel comfortable talking to.

If you feel you need further support, or just want to know more about mental health issues around birth, a wide variety of organisations work in this area. Some of these include:

Mind 
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/postnatal-depression-and-perinatal-mental-health/about-maternal-mental-health-problems/

Maternal Mental Health Alliance
https://maternalmentalhealthalliance.org/about/the-issue/

Family Action
https://www.family-action.org.uk/what-we-do/early-years/perinatal-support-services/

Pandas (support with postnatal depression)
https://pandasfoundation.org.uk/

Episode 6 of the Tea & Toast podcast sees the team considering the use of complementary and alternative medicine and therapies in pregnancy and birth. Joined by midwifery lecturer and researcher Dr. Catriona Jones, they discuss why women might choose to use complementary therapies, have a look at some of the issues around evidence and contemplate the role of the midwife in this area.

References

Dekker, R. (2018) Aromatherapy during labor for pain relief. Evidence Based Birth [blog post] https://evidencebasedbirth.com/aromatherapy-for-pain-relief-during-labor/

Hall HG. Griffiths DL. McKenna LG (2011) “The use of complementary and alternative medicine by pregnant women: a literature review.” Midwifery 27(6):817-24

Jones C, Marsh J (2015) Complementary and alternative medicines applied to maternity care. In Fundamentals in Midwifery. 

Jones C. (2012) Complementary and alternative medicine in the maternity setting10, British Journal of Midwifery, Vol 20, No 6, pp 409 – 418.

Jones, C. (2011) The efficacy of lavender oil on perineal trauma: A review of the evidence.11 Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice (in press), Vol 17 (4), pp 215 – 220.

Jones, C. (2009) Safety of lavender oil in the treatment of perineal trauma12. British Journal of Midwifery, 17 (9), 567–570

 NICE (2019) Antenatal care for uncomplicated pregnancies. Available from: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg62/chapter/1-guidance#management-of-common-symptoms-of-pregnancy

Royal College of Midwives (2017) Position Statement Complementary Therapies and Natural Remedies. Available from:

https://www.rcm.org.uk/media/2304/complementary-therapies-and-natural-remedies.pdf

Smith  CA, Collins  CT, Levett  KM, Armour  M, Dahlen  HG, Tan  AL, Mesgarpour  B. Acupuncture or acupressure for pain management during labour. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2020, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD009232. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009232.pub2. Accessed 11 January 2021.

Smith  CA, Collins  CT, Crowther  CA. Aromatherapy for pain management in labour. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 7. Art. No.: CD009215. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009215. Accessed 11 January 2021.

Tiran, D. (2018) Complementary Therapies in Maternity Care: an evidence based approach. London: Singing Dragon