Pregnancy, Birth & Parenting Links Bamboo spirit - Chinese Medical Practitioner for Womens Health - Karen Pohlner is a Melbourne-based Practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine) with a background as a Registered Nurse. She has a special interest in women‚s health, pregnancy and childbirth and a fierce desire to empower women to achieve optimal health and wellbeing using natural methods throughout their entire reproductive life. Birthready - Active birth workshop - Come and join us for the next workshop, and build on your knowledge about birth and gain a profound sense of trust in your innate capacity to achieve a safe, satisfying and calm birth experience. Birthready - Stretch and relax classes - Weekly gentle exercise and birth preparation classes. This weekly class combines gentle prenatal exercise, birth preparation activities, information AND guided relaxation! The class is ongoing and can be joined at any time during pregnancy. About Birth - Calm Birth workshop - About Birth workshops offer a relaxed environment in which we explore the emotional, physical and psychological aspects of birth. Through humour, stories, sharing and practical tools, we aim to empower couples to leave the workshop well equipped and with a positive view of birth. Birth is a natural process, which should be experienced fearlessly, calmly, ecstatically. Calmbirth® teaches pregnant mothers, fathers or birthing companions the skills to accomplish such an experience. Hypnoticfx - Taking the labour out of birth and treating unexplained fertility Pregnancy Birth and Beyond - Pregnancy,Birth and Beyond an up-to-date and extensive source of information and support for pregnancy, birth and parenting. Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond supports independent midwifery services and quality childbirth education. Through this website you will be able to find lots of information on midwifery care, pre-conception care, pregnancy, birth, waterbirth, homebirth, vaginal birth after caesarean, postnatal care and breastfeeding. Choices for Childbirth - Choices for Childbirth provides you and your partner with information not generally available in other antenatal classes. Our classes provide a comfortable forum where you and your partner can listen, learn, ask questions and share in the birth stories of others, all guided by our experienced team of presenters. Eastside Midwives - We are three midwives, passionate about caring for pregnant women, keeping birth normal and working with women and their families as they begin or continue their journey to parenthood. Interested in a homebirth? Waterbirth? Need an advocate for planned hospital birth? What about a vaginal birth after caesarean section? Have a look at the rest of our website, we’re sure you will get plenty of useful information. We run information sessions too….. Midwives Naturally - Midwives Naturally is a Melbourne based midwifery group practice offering a range of services such as pregnancy care, birth attendance, birth education, post baby care and lactation consultancy. Pinky McKay - International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and a Certified Infant Massage Instructor, Pinky McKay is a Melbourne based writer and editor specialising in health, education and family issues. She also works ‘hands on’ with parents, teaching infant massage and solving breastfeeding problems, with many clients being referred to her by health professionals such as GPs and MCH nurses. Spinning Babies - Optional foetal positioning - Spinning Babies is a unique, step-by-step approach to Optimal Fetal Positioning. Certain positions of the baby make labor easier than others. BellyBelly.com.au - The most respected online parenting social network. Melbourne based pregnancy centre offering health practitioners, support groups and workshops. C.A.N.A - Caesarean Awareness Network Australia - On this website you will be able to access up-to-date and evidence-based information and resources about caesareans and birth after caesareans, links to support groups around the country, information on workshops and antenatal courses relevant to caesareans or vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC), and information on issues related to maternity services for women who are planning a caesarean, or planning to VBAC. Birthrites - Healing after caesarean Inc - Birthrites: Healing After Caesarean aims to provide a support network for women who've had a previous c/section(s), and to increase the awareness of these women's needs to their health-carers within the medical profession. International Coaching Federation - The mission of the International Coach Federation is to be the global forum for the art and science of coaching, where we inspire transformational conversations, advocate excellence, and expand awareness of the contribution coaching is to the future of humankind. N.A.C.E National Association of Childbirth Educators - NACE Inc is a diverse group of professionals committed to preparing and supporting women and their families for birth and early parenting. Maternity coalition - The Maternity Coalition Inc. (MC) is a national non-profit, non-political and non-sectarian consumer advocacy organisation. MC acts as an umbrella organisation to bring together support groups and individuals for effective lobbying, information sharing, networking and support in maternity services. MC believes in the importance of women uniting their efforts and sharing skills and resources to achieve beneficial changes in the health care system in the interests of improving birthing services. Qi Rhythm - Pre and post natal massage - Qi Rhythm practitioners offer massage in the convenience and comfort of your own home as well as visits to women in hospital. We use a supportive pregnancy table enabling you to lay on your belly – a true luxury. Our practitioners draw on a wide range of skills, knowledge and experiences; including time spent in some of Melbourne’s leading maternity hospitals. Bub Hub - You'll find everything you need, right here, for your pregnancy & parenting journey. Including: the easiest way possible to find all your local and online shops & services in our directory your questions answered (however silly!) expert advice info hubs for each stage of your journey competitions and much more... Natural Parenting Melbourne - Parenting Naturally - Respecting our children and our Earth Mothering - The magazine of natural family living. Many articles and information including support for dads. Home Education Network - The Victorian Hospital Profiles of Perinatal Data for 2004 have been published by the Perinatal Data Collection Unit Each hospital receives a summary of its own births for that year, compared with average outcomes for hospitals of various sizes, and state averages. Homebirths are collected into one report. This year’s report gives trends in selected variables, 1999-2004. Variables include statewide, private and public rates of spontaneous onset of labour without augmentation, induced labour, epidural &c for primipars, and multipara in labour, spontaneous vaginal births, operative births, and caesareans. The rate of caesareans in that time has gone from 22.8% to 29.4%. The number of women having homebirths has risen from 132 in 1999 to 181 in 2004, out of 62,348 women giving birth. There were 254 unplanned out of hospital births, and 1,229 births in Birth Centres. La Bassine - Inflatable birth pools