My wish for women who want to or are on their way to becoming mothers: May your journey to and through motherhood be surrounded by joy, confidence, security, and love. My commitment is to keep working at building a world where this is true for all. #MothersDay2026 #Mothers

Never miss a blog post, a workshop, or an important evidence update from me again. Subscribe to the Birth Small Talk newsletter and I'll be in touch once a month. Fetal Monitoring information you can rely on - for your birth or for your practice. education.birthsmalltalk.com/newsletter

Here it is in print at last! Along with fellow obstetricians Susan Bewley and Annie Lyerly, I contributed a chapter called CTG monitoring: Obstetricians and the Risk Problem. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it as it looks really interesting! link.springer.com/book/9783032...

Midwifery is a cost-effective public health intervention - all around the world. Every woman should have access to a midwife locally, and every midwife should be supported by a brilliant team of midwives who have their back. #IDM2026 #ICM #Midwife #1MillionMore

Follow for trustworthy and accessible information to support YOUR decision making. #Birth #Pregnancy #Maternity #Midwife #FetalMonitoring

I collect goddess figurines. I enjoy what they suggest about cultural views on women and power. Meet Kali, the fierce mother goddess—protective and powerful, unlike the meek and mild depictions in Christianity. I moved her to my office last week for some serious "don't mess with my tribe" energy!

Today is my favourite sort of day. Time to sit on the deck with the family, have a cuppa, bounce the GrandBaby on my knee, pat Lucy the Wonder Dog, and enjoy autumn sun.

What crafty goodness is on your plans for this month? #BendigoWoollenMills #knitting #Socks

Central fetal monitoring: Do you love it or loath it? I have some serious concerns... This week on the blog - my reasons for being worried about the safety and ethics of central fetal monitoring. wp.me/pbCorF-17a

AI scribes. Greta blog by @benngooch.bsky.social substack.com/home/post/p-...

My latest paper - a literature review led by midwife and PhD candidate Anna Melamed. She found that risk assessment interventions in the UK lack solid evidence and may even harm women by diverting them from midwifery care. Read more: doi.org/10.1016/j.mi... #Midwifery #Research #Healthcare

Anna Melamed led this comprehensive review of antenatal risk assessment and classification interventions in the UK. The promise of better outcomes from risk management is seductive - but the evidence doesn't stack up. I'm chuffed to have been a member of the writing team. doi.org/10.1016/j.mi...

BirthSmallTalk is your reliable guide to the evidence about fetal monitoring (and more). Subscribe to stay on top of the latest research. education.birthsmalltalk.com/newsletter

The Easter Bunny is a myth but the idea keeps hopping along... So too does the myth that CTG monitoring saves lives and prevents brain injury. But there's less chocolate involved. #ChocolateNOTCTGs #BunniesForEvidenceBasedMaternityCare #RabbitsAgainstNonsense

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How are you spending your time this Easter? I'm hatching plans to overthrow the patriarchy, planting seeds for new research projects, and celebrating new ideas being born into the world. And eating chocolate...

Monitoring Your Baby In Labour is your evidence-based guide to choosing the best fetal monitoring options for your birth. Comment BOOK and I'll send you information about where to get your copy from

Let's talk about the history of how CTG use rose to prominence in maternity care. It has something to do with ultrasounds, moon exploration, washing machines, President Kennedy's son, and husbands in birth rooms... birthsmalltalk.com/2026/03/11/s...

For a limited time only - you can buy the eBook version of Monitoring Your Baby in Labour for only $0.99! Grab your copy from Amazon / Kindle while you can as the price goes up tomorrow!

Never miss a blog post, a workshop, or an important evidence update from me again. Subscribe to the Birth Small Talk newsletter and I'll be in touch once a month. Fetal Monitoring information you can rely on - for your birth or for your practice. education.birthsmalltalk.com/newsletter

Monitoring Your Baby In Labour is currently on sale! Grab the eBook from Kindle for $0.99 #Book #Pregnancy #Birth #FetalMonitoring #Doula #Midwife

The introductory launch price won't last long! Get your hands on the eBook at this price today #MonitoringYourBabyInLabour #Book #Sale #Kindle #Amazon #eBook

Justice for Izabela! A Polish court has sentenced three doctors to prison over the 2021 death of Izabela from sepsis during a 22-week miscarriage, after doctors refused to help. "This was a case involving extraordinary negligence, a pure disregard for the most basic and fundamental medical duties."

I had carefully mapped out my book launch to start on Friday . But it turns out that some people are good sleuths and terrible secret keepers. The book is already officially a best seller on Kindle! #Book #Author #Kindle #BestSeller #MonitoringYourBabyInLabour

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I'm so excited to be able to finally share my book with you! Mark March 6 off in your calendar and get ready.... Monitoring Your Baby In Labour: An Evidence-Based Guide to Help You Plan Your Birth #Book #ComingSoon #MonitoringYourBabyInLabour

I'm proud to announce a new paper from one of my PhD candidates Bonnamy, J., Dart, J., Palermo, C., Molloy, R., Small, K., & Connell, C. (2026). ‘They don’t know my body’: health consumer recognition and escalation of acute deterioration – a systematic review. BMJ Quality & Safety. bit.ly/4aYQt6W

Come join the club for Difficult Women. Lifetime membership is free. Guaranteed to annoy the right people. #DifficultWoman #GraceTame

Three strikes and you are out! How a guideline meant to make maternity care safer undermined good communication. Maybe it's time to use better approaches to understand why poor outcomes happen? birthsmalltalk.com/2026/02/25/t...

Maternity professionals often find comfort, competence, and control in CTG monitoring. Transitioning to intermittent auscultation requires that we address these emotional attachments. My suggestions on how to achieve this are in this week's blog. birthsmalltalk.com/2026/02/18/t...

A new study examined neurological outcomes in children born via caesarean section due to non-reassuring fetal monitoring. They found no differences in the rates of neurological problems when compared with caesarean done for non-progressive labour. birthsmalltalk.com/2026/02/11/c...

BirthSmallTalk is your reliable guide to the evidence about fetal monitoring (and more). Subscribe to stay on top of the latest research. education.birthsmalltalk.com/newsletter

Midwives say safe maternity care in Scotland now at a ‘tipping point’ www.heraldscotland.com/news/2582556...

Myths about fetal heart rate monitoring are plentiful. There are TWENTY of them in this week's blog post. How many did you already know where myths? Let me know if there are others you would like to see me tackle! birthsmalltalk.com/2026/02/04/t... #FetalMonitoring #Myth #Evidence #EFM #CTG

Follow for trustworthy and accessible information to support YOUR decision making. #Birth #Pregnancy #Maternity #Midwife #FetalMonitoring

Book launch date is approaching... Follow to make sure you hear about it! #FetalMonitoring #Book #MonitoringYourBabyInLabour

The introductory price for the How to get the best from the RANZCOG Intrapartum Fetal Surveillance Guideline ends at midnight (AEST - Brisbane time) tonight. ENROL NOW and get set to step into a new era of professionalism in birth care. education.birthsmalltalk.com/offers/56S68...

It's time to highlight the serious issue of unconsented fetal monitoring during childbirth, and the widespread misinformation about its safety and efficacy. It's time to fix the underlying causes - starting with how guidelines are applied in practice. birthsmalltalk.com/2026/01/28/t...

I once again take a moment on Australia Day to reaffirm my own commitment to Pay The Rent. I make regular contributions to several Aboriginal owned and run organisations, mostly focussed on healthcare. I encourage you to do the same. #AlwayWasAlwaysWillBe

Anyone care to guess what the "machine that goes Ping!" actually is? (I know the answer, and it's not the CTG).

Calling Doctors, Midwives or Doulas who have worked in Australian maternity services in the last 5 yrs. We want your views on disrespect and mistreatment in Australian maternity services. Participate in this study and share information. surveyswesternsydney.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

I decided I need more creative projects for 2026 - and added watercolour painting to the list. This is my first attempt. I'm pleased with it! I will definitely be doing more of this...

RANZCOG's latest guideline flags prolonged pregnancy (over 41 weeks) as a risk for "intrapartum fetal compromise." However, the evidence is weak—there's only a slight increase in brain injury rates compared to 37-40 weeks. Remember, the choice of fetal monitoring method is YOURS. bit.ly/44QfY7b

I'm all set for a big 2026! Like / Follow / Subscribe to make sure you don't miss anything. education.birthsmalltalk.com/newsletter

While there will be new workshops, courses, a book - it going to be more of me just as you know me! Like / Follow / Subscribe to come along for the ride education.birthsmalltalk.com/newsletter

Never miss a blog post, a workshop, or an important evidence update from me again. Subscribe to the Birth Small Talk newsletter and I'll be in touch once a month. Fetal Monitoring information you can rely on - for your birth or for your practice. education.birthsmalltalk.com/newsletter

The entire Birth Small Talk team is taking a break. I hope you get to carve out some personal care time for yourself too! See you again in 2026 - with more evidence-based blogs, courses to take your practice to new heights, that book at last, and opportunities to make maternity care better.