Midwife Cath - The First Six Weeks

First published in 2016

Copyright Cathryn Curtin 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

Allen & Unwin

83 Alexander Street

Crows Nest NSW 2065

Australia

Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

Email:

Web: www.allenandunwin.com

Cataloguing-in-Publication details are available

from the National Library of Australia

www.trove.nla.gov.au

ISBN 9781743439968
eISBN 9781952533914

Typeset by Bookhouse, Sydney
Cover design: Christa Moffitt, Christabella Designs
Cover image: Elena Litsova/Getty Images

I use he when referring to the baby in the book because my own baby was a boy. I also refer to babies as he because so many new parents do not want to know the sex of their child (and I know) so I have trained myself to say he. No offence is intended to baby girls!

There are also many types of families, and I recognise that many people parent alone. Then there are families with same-sex parents or who live within an extended family. Please read this book by adapting it as necessary to your situation. I am aware of the different family structures, and the challenges unique to each.

Dedicated to my loving parents Doreen and Jack Curtin, and my wonderful son Lachlan Curtin-Corr.

As an obstetrician and gynaecologist I have worked with Cathryn Curtin for over 30 years in family birth centres, obstetric units and birth suites.

At our first meeting, Cath was in charge of the Family Birth Centre at St Andrews Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. This was when I became acquainted with Caths unique midwifery and interpersonal skills. Our working relationship continued when Cath took over the mantle as the midwife in charge of the obstetric unit and labour ward at Masada Hospital in Melbourne.

When I established the Chemical Dependency Clinic for the management of women with drug abuse problems in pregnancy at the Royal Womens Hospital Cath came to work for us as our principal midwife. After that long journey into a difficult and challenging but rewarding area of obstetrics, Cath has been the midwife in my private practice ever since, and continues in this role today.

In my practice Cath has looked after patients antenatally, been intimately involved in patient education and, more importantly, has attended to my patients postnatally as a midwife adviser, maternal and child health practitioner. More importantly, she is a confidant to most of my patients. Every week in my private practice a patient will say to me during her postnatal visit, Cath literally saved my life.

Although we all focus on antenatal and intrapartum care for our patients, the really complicated, exhausting and challenging part of motherhood really starts when a new mother takes her new baby home. This is when Caths advice and care is outstanding.

There is no baby Cath cant get on to a breast, where patients have previously found breastfeeding and attaching the baby to the breast impossible. There is no baby Cath cant settle, when new mothers are finding it impossible to calm and feed their newborn and get some well-needed sleep.

I am delighted that Cath is putting her outstanding abilities into print so that a wider audience can reap the benefits of her commonsense and rational approach to the challengesand joysof motherhood.

Cath Curtin is a like a guardian angel who roams this earth protecting and nurturing parents and brand new bubs from the craziness of the newborn phase.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, can prepare you for the tornado that is new parenthood. God help me if I hadnt had Cath to show me the way. A shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen to new parents many obsessive topics of conversation (which Im sure in her 40 years of midwifery and maternal and child health nurse career she has heard every single day).

He poohed twice, hes pulling away at my breast, urghhh my nipples hurt, I think hes got reflux, he woke at 10, 2, 4 and 6, hes got a fever, is green poo OK? What about yellow? Yepnever did Caths attention waiver, her focus diminish; nor did she grow tired of my incessant questions.

Cath has a knack for babies. You know, one of those people who just have IT. The baby screams all day and as soon as Cath waltzes into the room and picks him up he turns from nightmare gremlin into a smiling (assassin), happy, gooing, gahhing baby? Yep, thats her.

With a focus on the mother, father and baby, Cath offers a no-nonsense, logical and commonsense approach to parenthood that works. Theres no denying that if the mother is happy and settled, then in turn, the baby will be too.

With my first child Oscar I have been very open in saying that I didnt enjoy the first six weeks of his life. Of course I loved him and would definitely take a bullet for him, but I can hand-on-the-heart say that I wasnt having the time of my life. Hmmmm, was it bad that I was wishing I was still pregnant so I could have some quiet time with my husband and go to cafes whenever I wanted to? Yes, it took a while to transition from being a self-involved couple to PARENTS and Cath seemed to know exactly what I was thinking and feeling, and guided me through that tricky time. It gets better, I promise, she would say, and she was so right.

From dealing with my mastitis, Oscars reflux, his inability to sleep during the day and my guilt associated with finding breastfeeding too hard that I just wanted to formula-feed him, Cath made me feel in control and never judged me along the way. She empowers the mother and I am forever grateful to her as my family and I have always been happy, healthy and well slept, right from the beginning.

Thank you, Cath. xox

Contents

Working with pregnant women, helping babies come into the world and guiding their parents in the early years of their childrens lives has been my lifes work. I feel extremely fortunate to have always worked in a field that I love.

I have cared for pregnant women from the ages of fourteen to 49-plus, and can say it remains a privilege to be allowed into the lives of so many families. It is incredible to be present at a birth. Ten thousand babies later, I can say Ive seen it all, but I never get tired of seeing babies born and watching them bond with their new parents.

I have wanted to be a midwife for as long as I can remember. I have been reading medical books since I was eight, so from an early age I not only had an innate understanding of how the human body worked but also realised that I wanted to work in medicine at some level for the rest of my life. As the youngest of eight children I had plenty of babies around me21 nieces and nephews were all born after I turned thirteen, so I had heaps of hands-on experience handling, feeding, bathing, holding and babysitting.

My mother Doreen was an amazingly strong and wise woman and mother, and with my father Jack, an intelligent man of great humour and sensitivity, taught by example. Theirs was an uncomplicated and loving parenting, a true partnership that successfully raised us with love, amazing life experiences such as travel, and lots of fun.