Keri Mapperson - Queenstown midwife-mama

22/08/2026

Did you know ?? Local midwives may have these on our car roof now to get to births /emergencies urgently when there is reduced staffing or local traffic gridlock!

It’s the law: If there’s a vehicle with a flashing green light behind you, you must pull over to let them pass you.

Doctors, nurses, or midwives on urgent business can use a flashing green light to help them get to their destination more quickly. You need to safely make way for them – in most cases this'll mean you letting them through by signalling, pulling over, and stopping.

Here’s what to do if it’s not safe to stop: Slow down, make way as best you can, and continue until it’s safe to stop – such as on a wider piece of road, or a break in traffic.

To state the obvious, don’t stop where it isn’t safe – such as on a footpath, or in the middle of an intersection.

This rule only allows doctors, nurses, or midwives to require people on the road to make way for them. They’re not allowed to do things emergency vehicle drivers are, such as exceed the speed limit or travel through red lights.

In other words, don’t expect vehicles with a flashing green light to zoom by you – and don’t be surprised if you see them waiting at a red light like everyone else – because this rule is just about removing traffic as a barrier to them getting to the urgent thing requiring their attention.

Just as with ambulances, Police, and Fire and Emergency vehicles, making way could make the difference in responding to callouts. Do it safely, as quickly as you can.

28/07/2026

Finally

So delighted to see this as RCOG policy, and much appreciation to authors, especially obstetrician Andrew Weeks who has been advocating for 'optimal cord management' for decades..
"The minutes after birth are now recognised as a time of remarkable change within the baby and we have learned that interfering with this natural process can cause potential harm...
Early cord clamping will result in the baby having a lower blood volume as it is estimated that a baby at full term will receive around 30% of its total blood volume from placental transfer via the umbilical cord. The decision on timing to clamp the umbilical cord should be based on observations of the baby, its heart rate and breathing rather than a predefined interval after birth. Also, the palpable pulsation of the cord is unrelated to the blood flowing back and forth therefore it should not be used to guide the time when clamping occurs. Clamping at the placental end allows some blood in the cord to transfer to the newborn. There are other benefits to the baby from the placental transfer of blood such as transfer of stem cells."
Free full text here https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1471-0528.70269?campaign=wolearlyview

19/04/2026

I couldn’t have said this any better if I’d tried. My email and text replies can come slowly. Because people right in front of me - especially those in labour - come first.

18/10/2025

Amazing

During pregnancy, fetal cells migrate out of the womb and into a mother’s heart, liver, lung, kidney, brain, and more. They could shape moms’ health for a lifetime, Katherine J. Wu reported in 2024:⁠ https://theatln.tc/W8aBhPp2
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The presence of these cells, known as microchimerism, is thought to affect every person who has carried an embryo, even if briefly, and anyone who has ever inhabited a womb. The cross-generational transfers are bidirectional—as fetal cells cross the placenta into maternal tissues, a small number of maternal cells migrate into fetal tissues, where they can persist into adulthood. ⁠
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Genetic swaps, then, might occur several times throughout a life. Some researchers believe that people may be miniature mosaics of many of their relatives, via chains of pregnancy: their older siblings, perhaps, or their maternal grandmother, or any aunts and uncles their grandmother might have conceived before their mother was born. “It’s like you carry your entire family inside of you,” Francisco Úbeda de Torres, an evolutionary biologist at the Royal Holloway University of London, told Wu.⁠
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Some scientists have argued that cells so sparse and inconsistent couldn’t possibly have meaningful effects. Even among microchimerism researchers, hypotheses about what these cells do—if anything at all—remain “highly controversial,” Sing Sing Way, an immunologist and a pediatrician at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, told Wu. But many experts contend that microchimeric cells aren’t just passive passengers. They are genetically distinct entities. And they might hold sway over many aspects of health: our susceptibility to infectious or autoimmune disease, the success of pregnancies, maybe even behavior. ⁠
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If these cells turn out to be as important as some scientists believe they are, they might be one of the most underappreciated architects of human life, Wu writes.

06/09/2025

Discover science-backed parenting insights with Nathan Wallis, New Zealand’s leading neuroscience educator. BrainyParenting.com offers on-demand webinars that help you understand your child’s brain—at every age and stage. Learn how to build emotional resilience, improve learning, and navigate ...

06/09/2025

12/05/2025

Let’s talk about why a successful VBAC is more than just a single experience—it’s a game-changer for future births.

If you’ve had one VBAC, your chances of having another successful VBAC go way up—studies show success rates can reach 85–90+% with each subsequent VBAC. Your body has done it before, and it’s more likely to do it again. 🙌

But that’s not all. A prior successful VBAC can actually decrease your risk of uterine rupture in subsequent labors. After one successful VBAC, that risk can drop to as low as 0.2%—lower than the average risk quoted for someone attempting their first VBAC.

This is powerful information for anyone on their VBAC journey, and it's exactly why your birth experience matters not only for today, but for all the births that may come after.

Whether you’re preparing for your first VBAC or already celebrating one, know this: your body, your choices, and your birth story are building something bigger.

02/03/2024

A widespread myth about infant sleep is - babies need to fall asleep alone for naps, bedtime and when they wake in the night - in order to build lifelong sleep health.

The exact opposite is true. When we accompany infants 0-3 years and children to sleep we build lifelong sleep health by:

🧠 Lending our adult brain so infants enter sleep in a rest and digest parasympathetic state

🧠 Create an association between sleep and a feeling of safety and comfort

🧠 Facilitate brain waves in sleep that are more restorative

🧠 Influence less night waking

🧠 Help them go to sleep faster

🧠 Influence their childhood, adolescent and adult sleep to be more consolidated, better quality, reduced insomnia

If we’ve been trying to get our baby to fall asleep alone or if we’ve been leaving them to fall asleep alone - and we see our baby is struggling with this - consider making a change. If we’re a new parent please know - your baby needs you and that’s simultaneously normal, expected and challenging.

Our presence makes all the difference in their developing brain between stress and nurture. It builds the brain towards resilience and builds sleep health.

When babies and children have sleep nurtured they grow up to sleep independently.

You can learn more in my 3 part sleep works up that starts April 5. Comment SLEEP and I’ll send you more information. Or link in bio.

Share far and wide to normalize the support for infant sleep and share The Nurture Revolution 💜🧠💜

23/02/2024

So so true. My beautiful best friend recently had her first baby post 40 and I was so excited to see her on the other side too.

"Recently, a friend texted me: Here we go, she said. It was a photo of her in a hospital gown.

Lovely and tired, she was in labor and I felt ever so vividly where she was. ⁣⁣⁣
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I remembered myself in her place.

I remembered the childless girl who went into a labor and delivery ward scared and in pain and full of wonder and naivety and fear and excitement.

I remember being embarrassed when my water broke in a Hollywood-style fashion all over a cold hospital floor with wonderful strangers around me.

I remember the hours that followed.

There was so much unknown. ⁣⁣⁣
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I remember the feeling of lightness when Sunday arrived and the heaviness in the days that followed when the visitors left and the hormones crashed and a wave of newness like nothing I’d ever known came over me. ⁣⁣⁣
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In a way, when I saw my friend’s text, I missed the girl I was when I walked into the hospital that day. The one who lived in a tiny little apartment and took long runs and longer showers and lounged with coffee and slept in. I don’t always feel like I know her anymore. Glimpses of her, maybe. But not the full her. ⁣⁣⁣
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In a way, I wanted to say to my friend: Live in those last few moments. Hug your husband. Cherish that time. ⁣⁣
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But I didn’t. ⁣⁣⁣
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I also knew that contractions hurt and it was hard (because it is) and being so close to the unknown is so uncomfortable yet so strangely spiritual. ⁣⁣⁣
I also wanted to say this: That the person she is becoming, the person she will become tonight, will awe the person she is right now.

I wanted to tell her that the little baby she was about to meet will introduce her to herself. ⁣
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I wanted to tell her that the days that are about to follow will be hard—but that it would all be okay. Because the mess of it all is what makes it so beautiful.

(But in quiet moments she’ll always dream about lazy afternoons.)⁣
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I didn’t though.

Instead I told her she was doing great.

I told her I’d be here if she needed me.

I told her I couldn’t wait to see her on the other side. 🤍"

📸:

20/02/2024