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Journal Vol. 35, No. 2 — Where will the baby come out? Birthplace dreams, instincts and lived experience

ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

To read or download this Journal as a PDF. Please click here.

Editorial - Birthplace: dreams, instincts and lived experience

Alex Smith considers the instinctive but often secret birthplace-related yearnings many women experience as their time approaches.

Choice of Birthplace

Anne Glover sets out AIMS belief that every pregnant woman and person should be free to make an informed decision on where to birth their baby.

Safety and place of birth: part one

In part one of her two-part article, Kathryn Kelly explores the evidence around mother and infant mortality for low-risk pregnancies and place of birth.

Two birth stories I love

Doula Sue Boughton describes two wonderful and rather surprising births that she was privileged to attend.

Safety and place of birth: part two

In part two, Kathryn Kelly considers birth-place safety for the 55% who are not ‘low-risk, and the other factors we might encompass with the term ‘safety’.

Homebirths suspended and under review

AIMS volunteer Katherine Revell looks at one of the most common messages currently received by the AIMS helpline.

A mother's instinct

Deborah Maw remembers the instinctive drive that led her to the place of birth for her first baby.

Being on Hyper-Alert

Grace Hall shares her observations and experiences as a doula working in a stressful hospital environment.

Birth Space – Supportive or Coercive?

Doula and cranio-sacral therapist Shellie Poulter draws attention to the powerful impact of the language frequently heard in the birth environment.

Squaring the Circle: Normal birth research, theory and practice in a technological age

Edited by Soo Downe and Sheena Byrom - A review by Mary Nolan

The Lancet Series on Breastfeeding 2023

Laura Scarlett introduces this latest Lancet series, three articles that explain how formula milk companies exploit parents' emotions and manipulate scientific information to generate sales at the expense of the health and rights of families, women, and children.

Facilitators and barriers to the implementation of a physiological approach to care in labour

Florence Darling offers a brief overview of her very interesting PhD study.

An interview with James Bourton

Anne Glover interviews midwife James Bourton.

Campaigns - Influencing NICE guidelines – the stakeholder role What are NICE guidelines?

Nadia Higson and Debbie Chippington Derrick look at the role of stakeholders in influencing NICE guidelines.

Beverley Lawrence Beech - 12 November 1944 - 25 February 2023

Debbie Chippington Derrick describes Beverley's work whilst she was working for AIMS from 1976 to 2017; and the significant contribution she made to improving maternity service and the thinking around those services.

Memories of Beverley

Debbie Chippington Derrick, AIMS Volunteer who worked closely with Beverley from 2005 when she joined the AIMS Committee, through to 2017 when Beverley stepped down from AIMS, shares memories of Beverley from people who knew her through her AIMS work.

Campaigns - What have we been up to?

An update on what the AIMS Campaigns Team have been up to this quarter.

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