The Midwives' Cauldron
Join us as we hubble, bubble, toil, and trouble our way through aspects of midwifery, birth, lactation, and womanhood. We tackle and discuss a variety of topics within the sphere of womanhood, birth, and lactation and what this entails in today's society. We want to be able to share in the strengths of women gathering together and being more informed, for their birth, their feeding experience, and the transition into knowing ourselves better. This is the podcast to connect us as a greater circle of women united.
Episodes
72 episodes
What you didn't know about donor milk and milk sharing
In this episode, Katie takes Rachel behind the scenes for an in-depth exploration of donor milk—an intriguing topic that might just challenge everything you thought you knew about this practice. &...
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Season 5
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Episode 16
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48:32
Waterbirth
In this episode Rachel and Katie dive into the fascinating topic of waterbirth (excuse the pun, but it was too good to leave out!). I ask Rachel my burning questions and she stirs up the cauldron exploring everything from the histor...
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Season 5
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Episode 15
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1:00:07
Kangaroo mother care and zero separation with Dr Nils Bergman
Dr Nils Bergman calls himself a Public Health Physician, and currently promotes and researches skin-to- skin contact on a full time basis. He is a Research Associate at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. Dr. Bergman was born in Sweden and raised...
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Season 5
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Episode 14
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1:11:06
To Nipple Shield or not to Nipple Shield?
In this episode Katie takes Rachel into a conversation about why the nipple shield topic gets Katie’s knickers in a Twist. We discuss: The history of their use from1500s to present day How the re...
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Season 5
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Episode 13
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47:58
OP position in pregnancy, labour and birth
In this episode Rachel takes me on the path to enlightenment about the topic of the occipito posterior (OP) position in pregnancy, labour and birth! I ask Rachel why she’s always been reluctant to cover this topic on the podca...
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Season 5
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Episode 12
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1:02:18
Newborn weight loss
In this episode it’s us together again in the cauldron and Katie chats with Rachel about all things early weight loss… and gain in babies. We look at: · Why do babies lose weight? ...
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Season 5
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Episode 11
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59:39
The importance of the amniotic sac
In this episode Rachel talks to Katie about all the wondrous and darn right fascinating things about the amniotic sac. · Why is the baby surrounded by fluid, and what is it made of?· Wo...
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Season 5
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Episode 10
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1:03:27
Pregnancy sickness and hyperemesis breakthrough with Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly FRS
In this episode I discuss with Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly all things pregnancy sickness and Hyperemesis. Just a few months ago the scientific evidence was published highlighting what causes pregnancy sickness and hyperemesis. ...
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Season 5
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Episode 9
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49:09
Periods and perimenopause with Dr Lara Briden
Lara Briden is a naturopathic doctor and bestselling author of the books Period Repair Manual and Hormone Re...
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Season 5
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Episode 8
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1:09:42
Born at Home with Amanda Banks and Eleanor Currie
Where and how women choose to birth matters. Born at Home is a stunning documentary film exploring what it takes to have a positive and transformative birth experience. Empowered by the homebirth of her second child in 2020, Amanda ...
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Season 5
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Episode 7
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50:58
Breastfeeding and medication with Wendy Jones BSc, MSc, PhD, MRPharmS
Wendy Jones BSc, MSc, PhD, MRPharmS is known for her work on providing a service on the compatibility of drugs in breastmilk and has been a registered breastfeeding supporter for 36 years. She is passionate that breastfeeding should be valued b...
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1:05:09
Taking up space and the power of anger with Bonnie Hughes
Bonnie Hughes is a midwife, with a background in musical theater and journalism. She is the creator of the podcast series Making a Midwife, and an animation film-maker hobbyist. Bonnie is passionate about the power of story, and how the s...
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Season 5
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Episode 5
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1:12:35
Freebirth stories - with Professor Emerita Mavis Kirkham
Mavis Kirkham is Midwifery Professor Emerita at Sheffield Hallam University and has held honorary professorial positions at the University of Technology Sydney and Auckland University of Technology. After over forty years as a clinical midwife ...
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Season 5
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Episode 4
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1:03:16
Labour pauses - Failure to progress or just normal? - An interview with Dr Marina Weckend
Dr Marina Weckend is a midwife and post-doctoral researcher based at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. Building on 13 years’ experience in midwifery practice, education and research in Germany, UK and Australia, Marina is committed t...
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Season 5
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Episode 3
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1:00:10
Late preterm and early term infants - why these babies struggle so much with breastfeeding
In this episode Katie talks with Rachel about late preterm and early term infants. These are the babies who have flown under the radar for far too long and often are the babies who struggle the most to get going with breastfeeding.
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Season 5
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Episode 2
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1:01:23
Plus Size Pregnancy - an interview with Dr Sara Wickham
Welcome to season 5!! This episode we have the marvelous Dr Sara Wickham back in the cauldron with us talking all about what’s in her new book Plus Size Pregnancy. Sara talks to us about:· How women an...
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Season 5
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Episode 1
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1:22:34
Early labour
In this episode Rachel takes us into the world of ‘early labour’. She’s been promising it for a long while, and here it is. Get your lug’ols around this one! In this episode we discuss:· What’s going on ph...
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Season 4
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Episode 15
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1:02:56
Our special edition: "We hit one million downloads" episode!
Welcome to the biggest episode yet! Well not really, but we have met a milestone I couldn’t have fathomed 3 years ago on 20th July 2020. It has hit home what has happened over this time and how this 'little' podcast has grown into somethi...
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Season 4
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Episode 14
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45:04
Breastfeeding aversion, agitation and dysphoric milk ejection reflex - An interview with Zainab Yate
In this episode Katie talks to Zainab Yate. Zainab is a Biomedical Ethicist, with a specialist interest in infant feeding. Zainab is Vice Chair and named qualitative lead on a paediatric flagged Research Ethics Committee Panel for the Health Re...
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Season 4
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Episode 13
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1:06:34
The unbelievable tactics of the formula industry- Do not think you can skip this episode!
In this episode I take Rachel and you into the world of underhand marketing tactics going on right under our noses from the commercial milk formula (CMF) industry. In Feburary 2023 the Lancet and WHO released a new 3 part series...
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Season 4
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Episode 12
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52:31
Childbirth education, home birth, attachement styles and the "F%k1ng epidural" - An interview with Rhea Dempsey
Rhea is a former PE teacher turned childbirth educator, and counsellor and feels privileged to have attended more than a thousand births in hospitals and home settings as a birth attendant as well as connecting with many more women, their partn...
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Season 4
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Episode 11
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1:34:50
Vaginal Examinations
On this episode of the Midwives Cauldron, it’s just me and Rachel hanging out and stirring the pot discussing vaginal examinations (VE's)!We take a step back in history to look at how midwives originally used vaginal examination dur...
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Season 4
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Episode 10
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1:07:22
Nipples, shields, infant sucking, pumping, and milk volumes - An interview with Prof Donna Geddes
Professor Donna Geddes is the director of the Geddes Hartmann Human Lactation Research Group. Based in Perth, Australia, the group is made up of innovative and dedicated scientists and students that have a passion for developing measurements of...
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Season 4
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Episode 9
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1:20:19
Peri-menopause, elderhood, cultural mythology, psychology and midwifery -An interview with Dr Sharon Blackie
In this episode of the cauldron we have Dr. Sharon Blackie; award-winning writer, psychologist and mythologist. Her highly acclaimed books, lectures and workshops are focused on the development of the mythic imagination, and on the relevance of...
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Season 4
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Episode 8
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1:04:58
SIDS, bed sharing and an anthropological look at motherhood and infancy - An interview with Prof Helen Ball
In this episode we talk to Prof Helen Ball. Helen is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Durham Infancy & Sleep Centre. Helen studies infant sleep and the parent-infant sleep relationship fr...
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Season 4
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Episode 7
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1:13:24