Michelle Tant

(September 2018) Feeling honoured this evening to see my article on the benefits of continuity of mentor in The Practising Midwife Journal ♡ (September 2018 issue)

 (September 2015) Image credit: http://www.thensmc.com/resources/showcase/be-star?view=all Since qualifying as a Breastfeeding Counsellor I have worked with over 500 fathers in antenatal breastfeeding education. The overwhelming impression I am given from them is that of a desire to be involved and to support their partners throughout the process. This desire is borne out in the research (Sherriff et al 2009; Rempel and Rempel 2010; Brown and Davies 2014) and what is interesting is that it also shows that mothers whose partner are supportive are more likely to have a positive breastfeeding experience (Meedya 2010). Image credit: http://beingdadboston.weebly.com/photo-credits.html I have subsequently become increasingly interested in supporting this need, particularly as my class experience shows me that often partners have the view that in order to help their partner they must feed the baby, thus ‘relieving’ the mother of the ‘burden’ of breastfeeding....

I haven't updated this blog for a little while but it seems fitting to break the fast with the wonderful news today that NICE guidance has finally been updated to reflect the evidence surrounding birthing at home, one to one midwifery care, delayed cord clamping and minimising separation of mother and baby. You can view the updated guidance here: http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/CG190 While I am over the moon at the update I can't help the feeling that this is a little like teaching Grandma to suck eggs and actually most of this is good old fashioned excellent midwifery philosophy already but it would seem churlish to point this out at length. What is key however is that while much of it is midwifery wisdom - what midwife will argue that one to one care and keeping mother and baby together needs new research and evidence to inform our practice with this - it is not yet in the public forum. Women have been scared out of having their babies at home and this latest guidance...

Earlier this year I observed an autopsy of an infant girl. This is my response to the encounter. There are no identifying comments in the text.   My assumption is of cot death though of course this is not diagnosable at point of autopsy.   I lost my own brother to cot death when I was 5 years old. I remember him vividly and I remember his absence in our home just as clearly. Our lives were never the same again; his loss is still felt now nearly 30 years later. Seeing Baby X brought so much of the pain back into stark focus and I wondered if the mortician had treated my brother so kindly and with such respect. I hope so. I wrote this letter because I was shocked by the violence of my feelings. I was literally knocked sideways by the strength of them and they seemed to have no resting place. I started to write the letter in my head and began to find some peace as I acknowledged her life and paid my respects. I can't bring her back to life, I can't heal the pain of ...

If you have been reading my ramblings for any amount of time then you know that I really can witter on. More recently my writing has been restricted to university essays so I don't write here as much as I would like to but I was inspired of late to come on here and have a bit of a muse. The thing is, is I come from a long line of witterers, or as I prefer to call us (sounds kinder somehow), storytellers. It's highly likely to be the Irish in me though and I know this apple didn't fall far from the tree that is my Dad. For as long as I can remember, family gatherings have always, and I do mean always, ended with us sat around a table or cuddled on sofas, telling stories of 'The Family'. Some of them I've noticed have evolved over the years, possibly embellished, possibly just added to as more of us have added dimensions to the story. New stories have crept in and I noticed with pleasure that a couple have crept in which involve my husband (of 11.5 years!) so ...

I tried recently to pin point the moment in my life when I realised that what I really wanted to do with my life, in fact, needed to do with my life, was to be a midwife. Truth be told although there was a moment of the seed being planted, it has taken a while for me to really grasp the enormity of this choice. Being a midwife is not just about catching babies and it is so important to really think, I mean really think about it. I don't suppose anything can prepare you for the inevitable sad side of the role but equally I don't suppose you'd be human if that side didn't affect you. I've always known I wanted to work with people and so it was no real surprise that I ended up in the housing industry. Loads of opportunity to support people but ultimately I am still asking of people. They have to pay the rent and I have to ask for it. When I was trying to get pregnant I discovered a thirst for knowledge about how it all happens, I was absolutely fascinated. When I got p...