Podcasts · Kids & Family · Health & Fitness
The Great Birth Rebellion
Dr Melanie Jackson
219 episodes
You can have a GREAT pregnancy, birth and postpartum experience. You just need the information and strategies to make it happen. The Great Birth Rebellion podcast, hosted by Midwife Dr Melanie Jackson offers evidence- based information to help you make informed decisions about your maternity care. The Great Birth Birth Rebellion helps you get the best out of your pregnancy, birth and postpartum journey. Want more? Follow along at @melaniethemidwife and @thegreatbirthrebellion on SM Subscribe to get access to the resources behind the episodes at melaniethemidwife.com and get your merch at thegreatbirthrebellion.com.
Episodes page 1 of 5
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Episode 226 - Is my baby moving normally during pregnancy
Is my baby moving normally during pregnancy? One of the most common questions pregnant women ask. 15% of women report reduced movement of their baby at some point during their pregnancy, but what are normal movements?…
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Episode 225 - Understanding The Labour Process
Mel is talking all about the labour process. The focus is on how you can identify and understand labour and how it progresses so you can be prepared for each part of it. We start from early labour all the way through…
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Episode 224 - Navigating Twin Pregnancy and Birth options - Part Two
Natasha found out she was pregnant with twins at her 21 week ultrasound. She already had her private midwife but had to pivot quickly in order to access the additional care she needed. Natasha gave birth to both of her…
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Episode 223 - Navigating Twin Pregnancy and Birth options: Part One
Discovering you’re pregnant with twins comes with the weight of knowing that your pregnancy and birth care might look different to what you were hoping for. There are ways of navigating the maternity care system and…
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Episode 222 - How to get hot safely in pregnancy
You CAN have hot baths, heat packs, sauna and do intense exercise in pregnancy. Feeling hot during pregnancy is not a risk to your unborn baby, but hyperthermia for a prolonged period could be. You may have been told…
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Episode 221 - Sex During Pregnancy
Everything changes when you are pregnant! Your body, brain, relationships, lifestyle AND of course, your sex life. Nobody tells you how to navigate this change or even if it’s safe to have sex when you’re pregnant.…
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Episode 220 - Shoulder Dystocia
Shoulder dystocia is an urgent situation during birth BUT there are some strategies that you can use to prevent it and some simple and minimally invasive interventions that can be used to manage it. Shoulder dystocia…
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Episode 219 - Restless Legs in Pregnancy
Restless legs is a circumstance in pregnancy where you feel an irresistible urge to move, stretch, kick your legs or walk around. It gets especially worse when at rest and in the evening and can cause you to have…
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Episode 218 - The Cascade of Intervention
The cascade of intervention is a known and proven phenomenon within maternity care. More and more research is revealing that interventions have both intended and unintended consequences. In order to remedy the…
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Episode 217 - Surviving and Thriving in Midwifery
We have to be honest about the reality that working in midwifery is an unsustainable role. The lucky ones land a job that doesn’t leave them mentally and morally exhausted after a day of working amongst a toxic…
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Episode 216 - Childbirth for Children
It’s national science week in Australia from August 15th-23rd and the great birth rebellion podcast is on the program! In this episode, Mel and her 9 year old daughter Frida explain childbirth to your children. We…
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Episode 215 - Strategies to avoid tearing during birth
There are various strategies that you can start using today that will help to reduce the chances of your vulva or vagina tearing during childbirth. This episode lists the action that you, your care team and partner can…
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Episode 214 - Spicy Question Time with Mel
It’s spicy Friday but on a Monday! In this episode Mel answers listener questions in this unscripted, off-the-cuff, unfiltered Q&A session submitted straight from her social media followers. She tackles burning birth…
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Episode 213 - What if I have an epidural
You might be one of the 60% of women who have an epidural during their labour or birth. Whatever birth you’re planning, knowing about epidurals is an absolute must. Epidurals are the most effective form of pain relief…
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Episode 212 - It’s Not ‘False’ Labour, It’s Prodromal Labour
Around 25% of women will experience a longer than anticipated early labour phase. Some maternity care providers might explain this as ‘false’ labour… but I can assure you it’s not false, it’s called ‘prodromal labour’…
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Episode 211 - Manage your labour pain with sterile water injections and hypnobirthing
Why not favour pain management options that have no side-effects? In this episode, Mel interviews midwife and researcher Nigel Lee who explains the research he and his team undertook regarding 2 pain management options…
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Episode 210 - It's bad but there's hope
This episode gives a snapshot of the main global challenges that face women in their childbearing years and the midwives that care for them. In this episode, Mel covers what she learned from the International…
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Episode 209 - The 5 BIG induction studies
In this episode Dr Melanie Jackson and Prof Hannah Dahlen explain The 5 BIG Induction studies that often get used to encourage the use of induction for suspected big babies, women over the age of 35 and over 41 weeks…
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Episode 208 - Beyond 40 weeks pregnant
The concept of a rigid 40-week due date is one of the most deeply entrenched myths in modern maternity care. Today I cast a critical eye over the historical and mathematical flaws behind how Estimated Due Dates (EDDs)…
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Episode 207 - The First 2 Weeks Postpartum (part 2)
Get practical ways to support recovery in the first 2 weeks after birth. Learn how to prepare your home for easier access to supplies, early breastfeeding patterns, and what to expect as milk comes in during the first…
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Episode 206 - The First 2 Weeks Postpartum (Part 1)
The first two weeks after birth have a lot going on… So I'm doing 2 episodes on it. Here you will learn what recovery can look like for both mother and baby. I discuss the wide range of postpartum experiences, the care…
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Episode 205 - Anti-D for Rh Negative women
Women with negative blood groups are routinely offered at least 3 doses of anti-D throughout pregnancy. The question is, what is anti-D, do you really need it? What happens if you choose not to take it? And how do you…
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Episode 204 - Advocating for yourself in the maternity system
Being pregnant may be the very first reason you’ve had prolonged exposure to the health care system. Interacting with the maternity care system can feel confusing and frightening and some women feel pressured and…
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Episode 203 - Swollen cervix in labour
If you get a swollen cervix during labour, your care provider might recommend an epidural or caesarean section. There are many other things you can try before resorting to such extreme measures and this episode covers…
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Episode 202 - Pre-eclampsia management: the balance between protection and prematurity
If you’ve been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, this is a must-listen episode to prepare you for the journey ahead. Mel continues the pre-eclampsia 2-part series by focusing on management, decision-making, and navigating…
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Episode 201 - Preeclampsia: Red Flags, Risk Factors, and Reducing Your Chances
In this episode Mel casts a critical eye over the serious pregnancy complication of preeclampsia. She explains what pre-eclampsia is, how to diagnose it, how it develops and some strategies on how to prevent it. In…
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Episode 200 - How to choose great maternity care for you
The medicalisation spectrum is 101 when it comes to understanding how to plan pregnancy, birth and postpartum care. In this episode Mel explains the medicalisation spectrum with reference to where your care provider…
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Episode 199 - Light, Sun and Vitamin D for Health
We know sun contains nutrients, vitamin D is one of the most well-known, but there are other health properties that are garnered from sunlight both directly on our skin and indirectly that are essential for health.…
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Episode 198 - Optimising your circadian rhythm for better health
Your circadian rhythm is part of a web of body clocks that keep your body ticking through the day and regenerating and repairing through the night. In this episode, medical doctor Max Gulhane explains the parts of the…
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Episode 197 - Having a vaginal birth in hospital
Want to increase your chances of a low-intervention vaginal birth in hospital? Then this episode is for you! If you attend hospital to give birth, you have approximately a 50% chance of having a vaginal birth without…
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Episode 196 - Breech Whisperer - Resigned not Retired
Dr Andrew Bisits, Australian Obstetrician, built a name for himself over his 40 year career as ‘the breech whisperer’ owing to his willingness to attend vaginal breech births, but there is more to him than his…
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Episode 195 - The high powered hospital bag
Some items make a difference to your birth and postnatal experience. Have a listen to this episode to make sure you don’t miss something on your packing and preparation list for birth. A Full check list of the high…
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Episode 194 - monitoring your baby in labour
Melanie welcomes back Dr. Kirsten Small, author of the book Monitoring Your Baby in Labor, an evidence-based guide to help you plan your birth, to delve deep into the culture, safety, benefits, and potential side…
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Episode 193 - What to do if your labour is FAST
Precipitous labour and birth can be a real surprise if you were mentally preparing for a longer labour. Around 15% of women will have a labour that is less than 3 hours and these quick ones require a little bit of…
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Episode 192 - Mel's mastitis protocol
I came up with this Mastitis protocol early in my career and it’s just always worked. For this reason I have had no inclination to update or change it, because it has proved it to be effective. In this episode I…
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Episode 191 - Optimal cord management
The umbilical has a purpose in the minutes following your baby’s birth. Leaving it intact enhances the health of your baby and assists in the transition to breathing air. In this episode, Mel explains what the cord…
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Episode 190 - When do I NEED an obstetrician?
Often women are provided with too much medical intervention during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. How do we know when we actually need it? Or when it’s just part of the usual over-medicalised care routine? In this…
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Episode 189 - Midwives Save Lives
The International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) shares that if 1 million more midwives provided care to women through their childbearing years, they would be healthier, happier and fewer women and babies would be…
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Episode 188 - Waterbirth risks and safety
If you are planning a waterbirth, care for women using water, or you are just waterbirth curious, this episode is for you! You’ll also find this a handy episode for your birth support team so they know how to best help…
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Episode 187 - Midwifery without borders with Diane Lockhart
A rebellion can take many forms, for Diane Lockhart her brand of rebellion involved her reluctantly and somewhat accidentally opening a birth center in a Ugandan slum. Amani Birth Center has now been running for 10…
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Episode 186 - Is your baby too big or too small?
Have you been told that your baby is too big or too small during your pregnancy? Do they want to induce you or give you a caesarean because your baby is too big or maybe it was too small? Are pregnant and have been…
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Episode 185 - Guide to a great birth
Have you been told that your baby is too big or too small during your pregnancy? Do they want to induce you or give you a caesarean because your baby is too big or maybe it was too small? Are pregnant and have been…
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Episode 184 - Orgasmic birth
Orgasmic birth doesn’t mean you are going to orgasm at birth… but that certainly is a possibility when you realise how involved your clitoris and oxytocin (the orgasm hormone) are during labour and birth. In this…
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Episode 183 - the great rebellious wrap up 2025
And that’s a wrap on 2025! Mel and her right and left hand man, Dan, host this final episode of 2025 and spill all the tea on the highs and lows of the year. Mel shares what happened to THAT episode, why her hair went…
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Episode 182 - Induction of Labour Part 2
Part 2 of the risks of induction. Episode 181 was all about the assessment and first steps of induction and this episode follows on with the risks of the final steps of induction of labour. These are a must-listen if…
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Episode 181 - Induction of Labour Part 1
Having your labour induced has risks and benefits. This episode is part 1 of a discussion of the labour induction process and the associated risks that go along with each stage of an induction. The discussion continues…
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Episode 180 - Protecting yourself from microplastic in pregnancy
Women are warned about environmental hazards in pregnancy, but why not microplastics? In this episode I share the research about how microplastic gets into your placenta and baby and give you practical strategies to…
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Episode 179 - The transition to motherhood with Jane Hardwicke Collings
Just as children transition into adulthood through adolescence, women transition into motherhood through matrescence. Jane Hardwicke Collings joins Mel on the podcast today to speak about the transitions through our…
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Episode 178 - Normal baby movement in pregnancy
Is your baby moving normally during pregnancy? 15% of women report reduced movement of their baby at some point during their pregnancy, but what are normal movements, how you monitor movement and what could it mean if…
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Episode 177 - Defending birth and midwifery in the UK
The UK used to be held up as an idyllic maternity care system worth replicating, but in the past 10 years, the caesarean section rate has increased to over 45% and poor maternal outcomes are rising as a result.…
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