Nurtured by Nature Naturopathic & Birth Support, Australia

08/07/2026

All mothers are completely amazing. This one even more so… 🥹🥰🍀✨

🚨HERO: A Venezuelan mother kept her three children alive by breastfeeding them for 11 days while they were trapped beneath the rubble of the OPP building in La Guaira.

All four were rescued alive in what many are calling a miracle.

14/05/2026

Spectacular 🥰✨🥰

12/05/2026

Wow. PCOS finally has a new name. After years of debate, the consensus has landed on PMOS for polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome.

The name change was needed because the so-called "cysts" of "polycystic" are not actual cysts, but really just follicles or eggs, which are normal for the o***y.

What are your thoughts on the new name? As Dr Fiona McCulloch ND points out, it does sound a bit too similar to PMS.

Image by New Scientist.

Links:
- New Scientist (paywall) https://www.newscientist.com/article/2526084-pcos-has-been-officially-renamed-pmos-and-its-a-momentous-move/
- Australian news: https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2026-05-12/polyendocrine-metabolic-ovarian-syndrome-pcos-new-name/106668902
- Lancet article: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2826%2900717-8/fulltext

12/05/2026

Interesting comparison of epidural and water immersion. NB groups were self-selected, which may have influenced results. "Spontaneous vaginal birth was almost 17 times more likely in the water immersion group [94.5% vs 50.6%] (OR = 16.866 [6.540, 43.480], p < 0.001), whereas the odds of having a cesarean birth were almost 40 times higher in the epidural group [0.7 vs 21.9%] (OR = 39.346 [3.610, 429.120], p < 0.001). The odds of having an intact perineum were more than two times higher for the water immersion group (OR = 2.606 [1.290, 5.250], p = 0.007), whereas having an episiotomy was more than eight times more likely for the epidural group [4.1 vs 26.1%] (OR = 8.307 [2.800, 24.610], p < 0.001). Newborns in the water immersion group showed a better 5 min Apgar score and umbilical cord arterial pH and lower rates in admissions at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Conclusions: Women choosing water immersion as an analgesic method were no more likely to experience adverse outcomes and presented better results than women choosing epidural analgesia." Full paper here https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/12/19/1919

09/05/2026

Congratulations to Paris and Jordy on your little ray on Sunshine Goldie 👶 She is truly a beautiful golden egg.
Thank you Robyn Riley for sharing this Magical Special Story and thank you to my team for making dreams become reality and for helping us share our stories 👌

09/05/2026

✨💗✨

For all the mothers… who hold all the things
❤️
I see you.

30/03/2026

Forced vaginal exam = battery and assault and negligence

There was a significant decision made in the Supreme Court of Victoria last week.

A woman had been forced to have a vaginal exam when presenting at hospital. The hospital midwife had withheld access to her continuity of care midwife, birth suite and pain relief until she complied.

The court found that consent cannot be obtained under coercion and found Bendigo Health liable for battery and assault and negligence. A likely precedent in this space. The health service was ordered to pay $275K + costs.

Far too often, strong-arm tactics are used to get women to comply to vaginal exams, including refusing admission to birth suite, to water immersion, or to pain relief. Many women, advocates, lawyers and staff have been saying for a long time that this is not okay; no does in fact mean no, and a yes under coercion /= consent. The court agrees.

Let's address the unfounded rhetoric we have already heard from factions of the maternity space
- women just need to be more educated in the antenatal space. [errrh, no. Yuck. Victim blamey. Just don't digitally pe*****te someone without cosent?!]
- drs need to be more involved in conversations in the antenatal period [errr, for what purpose? No means no, whether it is to a midwife or dr. Women don't need any additional pressure applied to them before they even get to hospital].

I think all staff and services should be on notice. If thousands of women's stories to multiple maternity inquiries across the country hasn't shifted the dial, perhaps it will be the litigation payouts that will.

Thank you to the brave woman that persued this. It was just as much about her own justice as it was for every other woman that has been subjected to forced procedures during maternity "care".

13/03/2026

Take the hat off.

The first hour after birth isn’t just sentimental.

It’s hormonal. It’s biological, and it’s powerful.

Right after birth a mother’s body is flooded with oxytocin, the hormone that helps:

💎the uterus contract and slow bleeding
💎the placenta separate and be born
💎the mother and baby bond
💎the baby begin breastfeeding

And guess what helps drive that hormonal cascade?

👉🏾Touch. Warmth. Skin-to-skin. And smell.

When a baby is placed directly on their mother’s chest, mothers instinctively touch, kiss, and smell their baby’s head.

That newborn scent isn’t random.

It’s a powerful sensory signal that stimulates oxytocin and activates bonding behaviors in the brain.

Now here’s the part most people don’t question.

The hat that gets immediately placed on the baby’s head interrupting all the signaling.

Hospital hats were originally introduced to prevent babies from losing heat through their heads.

But research on immediate postpartum care shows that skin-to-skin itself regulates a baby’s temperature extremely well.

In fact, a 2023 study found no measurable difference in hypothermia rates between newborns wearing hats and those without hats during the immediate postpartum period.

Because when babies are skin-to-skin, something incredible happens.

The mother’s chest actually adjusts temperature in response to the baby, warming or cooling to keep them stable. Researchers call this thermal synchrony.

So if skin-to-skin already regulates temperature…

Why are we still covering the baby’s head during the most hormonally sensitive hour of life?

Covering the head may reduce the very sensory cues that drive the oxytocin feedback loop:

🔁 smelling the baby
🔁 kissing the baby’s head
🔁 full skin-to-skin sensory contact

In physiologic birth settings, like homebirths and out of hospital birth centers, we often have a different approach:

⭐️ Baby naked on the mother’s chest.
⭐️ No hat during the golden hour.
⭐️ A warm blanket over baby’s back.
⭐️ Everyone stepping back while mother and baby find each other.

Because birth physiology is delicate.

It responds to touch, scent, warmth, and connection.

Sometimes routines become so normal that we stop asking whether they actually help.

And sometimes the most powerful intervention is the simplest one.

Skin-to-skin, access to baby’s head and scent while the mother and baby learning each other.

Hats are interrupting this very important process for healthy term babies.