second

A Second Time Mum Reviews The Doctor and Daughter Antenatal Classes

One of our recent clients and her husband have sent us a great review of our course. Thank you Margret and Nick! I wanted to take an opportunity to write a review to say how great I found the Doctor and Daughter course.  This is my second pregnancy and the Doctor and daughter team weren’t around at the time I was having my first. I was very impressed with their website and the level of detail it provided I was very keen to take this course, and I was not disappointed. To give a quick summary, the course was spread out over 6 sessions (7 including a first aid course), most sessions […]

Second Babies Can be QUICK!!

If you read the papers yesterday,you may have come across a great story about an actress who delivered on Hollywood Road, on the way to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. What was interesting was that she lived very near the hospital and was less than one minute away when she delivered on her mother’s Burberry coat ! Thankfully all went well , and mother and baby were back home after 10 hours. All that hard labour, uncertainty, false alarms, endless phone calls , and no sleep for three nights, is , more often than not , repaid in a spectacular way […]

How long should we wait before trying for a second baby?

  What is the correct interval between pregnancies? Traditional advice has been to wait at least a year before conceiving again , suggesting an actual birth interval of at least 18- 24 months as the ideal.  Often the ” fourth trimester”  takes longer than most women expected and the physical , psychological and social adaptations to childbirth can be considerable.  It has generally been acknowledged that a short birth interval of less than 18 months was not advisable because of increased problems during the pregnancy.  But the precise extra risks were, until recently, rather non-specific and uncertain. Recent studies have […]

VERY Speedy First Birth!

My first labour was super quick ie. Under 2 hours.  What are the chances for my second labour being even quicker? Am worried that I wont make it to hospital and should think of home birth.   Every labour and every delivery are different.  Most second labours are quicker and easier than firsts but not always. You need to talk to your midwife about the pros and cons of Homebirth vs Hospital and also about how to recognise the early warning signs of labour eg. show or contractions. Perhaps when you think back to your last labour you may have been […]

I had a huge bleed after my first baby, what will happen next time?

About one in ten women have a significant blood loss at or around the time of their first delivery. Its called a post partum haemorrhage and is when you lose more than half a litre within the first 24 hours. It is well known that it is more likely to occur in older women, women with twins, or with babies over 4 kg, or women who are overweight, or who require delivery by Caesarean Section. A recent study of over 34,000 women , from Aberdeen, from 1986 to 2005,  were followed up over a period of 5 years. The intention […]

Can I reduce my chances of getting pre-eclampsia again?

I had pre-eclampsia with my last pregnancy and I was induced at 36 weeks. I’m now 30 weeks into my 2nd pregnancy and so far I’ve no signs of pre-eclampsia which is great although I’m aware I have a 1 in 8 chance of it happening again. I wondered if there were any tips you could share for anything I can do to improve my chances of not having it this time around? As so far I’ve not come across any. The midwives have basically said I have to wait and see. I’m taking an Asprin a day, not drinking […]

Will my second labour be easier?

  I delivered a healthy baby boy at in Sept 2011 at 38 weeks via a C-section (due to failure to progress). I am now pregnant again due to deliver end of October. I understand every pregnancy & Labour is different, however I’ve heard that labour with second baby is always easier, is this a myth? Also because I had a C-section last time does it mean my chances of having a natural birth are slim?   The most common reason for failure to progress in the first labour is due to an unfavourable position of the baby combined with […]