Is there such a thing as an optimal birth? Changing the conversation with Molly O'Brien

At Your Cervix

In this episode Midwife Molly O'Brien joins Emma and Grainne to discuss childbirth. Molly has seen many women and birthing people suffer long and difficult births which led her to explore physiology and the biomechanics of human movement and apply it to the birthing process. She discusses the disruptors of the physiological birthing process and how women and birthing people can optimise the birth process. This is a great episode for anyone that works with pregnant women, is pregnant or has a pregnant friend or relative.

To find out more about Molly and her course visit www.optimalbirth.co.uk

Molly O’Brien is an experienced, registered midwife whose 24 years of practice is guided by a salutogenic approach to birth with an emphasis on preserving, supporting and optimising the physiological birth process to achieve the best possible birth outcome and experience for the mother and her baby.

She created and teaches a course for midwives, doulas, obstetricians and birth associates called ‘Biomechanics for Birth’. The course has evolved from a combination of clinical midwifery, an autodidactic pursuit of knowledge about biomechanics from sources including physiotherapy, osteopathy and movement specialists and a career attending more than a thousand births, refining the midwifery skills of perception and observation of movements, positions and attitudes of birthing women.

Attending hundreds of undisturbed physiological births in the home and midwife led birth unit setting gave her the opportunity to make a systematic exploration of midwifery skills and observations that can help identify the reasons behind labour dystocia (difficult labour).

When labour dystocia is caused by a mechanical imbalance it requires a mechanical solution using specific and directed movement. The techniques and strategies that emerged from this time helped her to revolutionise her practice and she began to regularly witness rapid and dramatic progress as she put them to use during “difficult labours”

Her aim is to introduce an understanding and resolution of the root cause of mechanical labour dystocia into mainstream midwifery and obstetric practice and education of maternity health care practitioners. There is a real possibility to significantly reduce intervention, increase straightforward births and improve the birth experience.

Molly teaches the principles of biomechanics in the birth setting as part of a Masters degree in two universities in the UK and in a Chilean midwifery school. She is regularly invited to teach in NHS hospitals and she frequently teaches the course online to a global audience of multidisciplinary practitioners.