Hello there! I am Karen.
How can I help you?
The Virtual Midwife was created to meet the increasing need for professional advice online and has enabled me to support hundreds of families around the world to enjoy their pregnancy and have empowering birth experiences.
Traveling Midwife
All travel plans are presently on hold due to the corona pandemic but I am still supporting couples virtually in Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Jakarta and Rwanda and I am certain that my traveling midwife services will resume again in 2021. Contact me for more info
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If you have been looking for a class that will take you step by step from pregnancy through birth – you just found it.
Get the skills and confidence to have the birth you want, on your terms. PS: Use coupon code COVID and get a complimentary 19% (see what I did there 😘)
Gentle birth through breath
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Powerful in its simplicity, this will radically transform the way you experience the sensations of labor. Effective breathing is the true essence of all birth preparation techniques. PPS This is included in the Midwife Guide Birth Bundle. Just saying.
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Personalised ongoing online support. Includes 24/7 pregnancy hotline (whatsapp/email), access to all my online courses and 90 mins/month of 1:1 consultations. By far my favourite way of working with couples through pregnancy.
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This is for you if you need an answer or help RIGHT NOW. All calls include detailed notes and recommendations plus 1 week whatsapp follow up to make sure you stay on track or that your issue/concern is resolved.
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I spent 14 years working abroad with expats and while nothing about pregnancy is different, it shaped the way I teach while embracing different cultures and beliefs and adapting everything I know accordingly. Available on Amazon.
How Karen helped me
Karen taught me about “holding space” before I even knew it was a thing. The lessons I learned from her altered the course of my life. My pregnancy and birth experience was so amazing that it inspired me to become a doula.
Hayley RandKaren was not only with me for both of my pregnancies and births, she was also my mentor during my doula studies. She taught me the value of honoring every woman’s experience.
Lindsay Lane Ward HoffmanThroughout my wife’s pregnancies I often felt overlooked and rather like a spare wheel. Karen was the only person to make me feel entitled to share and take part in the birth experience. For that I will always be immensely grateful.
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people or changed who can see it, or it's been deleted.t's an uncomfortable conversation. You may be told that a cut is better than a tear but a tear sounds terrifying!
A recent Cochrane systematic review examining the evidence on selective versus routine episiotomies for vaginal birth concluded:
“Overall, the findings show that selective use of episiotomy in women (where a normal delivery without forceps is anticipated) means that fewer women have severe perineal trauma. Thus the rationale for conducting routine episiotomies to prevent severe perineal trauma is not justified by current evidence, and we could not identify any benefits of routine episiotomy for the baby or the mother.”
Despite this recommendation, health workers sometimes encounter institutional barriers that pressure them to perform the procedure. Fear of a woman developing a third or fourth degree perineal tear and a lack of proper training can also contribute to high episiotomy rates.
Evidence shows that episiotomies do not protect the perineum during birth and in fact increase the chance of a third or fourth degree tear. Once the cut is done the baby’s head emerging causes the cut to tear deeper into the muscle. Tears will heal much better than episiotomies as well. The scar tissue from an episiotomy can be weaker but will not restrict the perineum’s ability to stretch in future births. A previous episiotomy is not an automatic reason for an elective c-section.
In this episode I talk about some of the things that you can do to prevent an unnecessary episiotomy. Please connect with me on my Facebook page so that you can be kept up to date with the extensive resources that I am putting together for you about episiotomy.
audioboom.com/posts/7290238-how-to-avoid-an-unnecessary-episiotomyAn episode by The Virtual Midwife
