Sally Cusack 2017

2020 - 2019 - 2018 - 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014

Special feature podcast series:

A Baby on the Way

Plus 17 radio show podcasts produced by Sally:

Published: 31/12/2017

Sally's interview with Dr Lawrence Cohen, parent, child psychologist and author of titles including "Playful Parenting" and "The Opposite of Worry" on:

* how the playful parenting approach helps children work through their anxieties and fears,

* the main challenges for kids and parents today and more.

First broadcast on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay on 26 September 2016 and the Community Radio Network (Australia) on 29 December 2017.

More info on Dr L Cohen here:

http://playfulparenting.com/

Dr Cohen's major influences include:

Patti Wipfler: http://www.handinhandparenting.org/

and

Michael White: http://dulwichcentre.com.au/michael-white-archive/

Additional interview content available through our Patreon account at: https://www.patreon.com/pbbmedia

"How parents can get the support they need to be the parents they want to be through listening partnerships."

Produced and presented by Sally Cusack

www.pbbmedia.org

Capturing the moment: The rise and rise of birth photography

Published: 23/11/2017

Even though the camera was invented over 130 years ago, only in the last 20-30 years has the camera made its way into the birth room, and most of those images were captured by amateurs. But in the last few years we have seen an explosion of professional taken photos, and shared widely on social media. What is motivating families to invite birth photographers into such an intimate occasion? Is seeing these images changing how we view birth?

Sally speaks with birth photographer Alex Warland and four mothers who have used professional photographers at their births: Luna, Rhiannon, Anita and Varesha.

For more info and to see the photos the women mention, go to: http://www.pbbmedia.org/ne-plus-ultra/capturing-the-moment

References:

www.zandrawarland.com.au

"The Art of Birth" film by Shea Caplice

Image from Zandra Warland Photography

First aired on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay, Australia on 20 November 2017.

Presenter: Sally Cusack

Stepping Up: Feeling the fear and doing it anyway

Published: 02/11/2017

Profile of an activist, volunteer and mother - Nicqui Yazdi. Sally's conversation with Nicqui covers broad terrain from how she came to train as a mental health counsellor, setting up youth support programmes, in particular Byron Schoolies Hub, the lesson she learned from Richard Branson, and the gratitude she feels for all her years of giving, as it has given her so much healing in return. Nicqui has an unwavering belief in service and that "everyone has something to give".

More on Nicqui's work at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjoSmCLqpwI

WARNING: This episode mentions suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, go to the following resources:

* Mental Health First Aid Australia: www.mhfa.com.au

* Beyond Blue: Ph 1300 22 4636, www.beyondblue.org.au

* Lifeline: Ph 13 11 14

Presenter: Sally Cusack

First aired from 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay, Australia on Monday 30 October 2017.

Help me keep close to my baby

Published: 29/09/2017

The first minutes, hours and days with a newborn baby are crucial for setting up the best possible adjustment to life outside the womb, learning to breastfeed and recovery for mother and baby. This is best achieved through supporting new parents to be the main ones handling the new baby.

We hear from Dr Robyn Thompson, midwife and breastfeeding researcher, on why it is so important for handling of a new baby by others is best kept to a minimum if all is well - even hospital staff. New parents need lots of quiet time to adjust to their lives as parents, to recover from birth and to support the baby's own process of learning to breastfeed.

We also hear from a mother of two children who knew instinctively the importance of minimising lots of outside contact during the early weeks and as a consequence, her babies were very calm. However, not everyone understood her intentions, but she held her ground on this. She calls for extended family and friends to respect new parents' choices to keep life quiet and simple in the early weeks.

If new parents aren't explicit in their wish for this, it is worth asking if that is what they would like and how you can support them.

This information is to support expectant parents and help prevent issues arising postnatally. Birth and breastfeeding takes its own path and can have unexpected turns. There are specialised services for parents to discuss their births, no matter how long ago, including: www.birthtalk.org, consiousbirth.com, birthingfromwithin.com

Credits:

- Dr Robyn Thompson, www.breastfeedingconsultant.com

- special thanks to Petria, mother, for sharing her personal stories

References:

Dr Robyn Thompson - http://www.breastfeedingconsultant.com/single-post/2017/09/02/The-First-Breastfeed

The Birth Pause: thebirthpause.com

Dr Nils Bergman: http://thebirthpause.com/tag/skin-to-skin

Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Mother Nature (1999) Babies Celebrated: “ For species such as primates, the mother IS the environment.”

Microbirth Movie: microbirth.com

Producer: Sally Cusack

2017

First broadcast on 99.9 BayFM, Byron Bay, Australia on 25 September 2017.

The missing link in birth preparation

Published: 11/08/2017

According to the Relationship Research Institute in Seattle, approx two thirds of couples find their relationship has suffered within three years of the birth of a child. Within five years of the birth of a first child, 13 percent of married couples divorce. This rate goes up to 39% for defacto couples 5 years after the child’s birth.*

Surely there’s some preparation couples can do, rather than adjusting their relationship on the run after baby arrives.

In this episode we meet Tondi Gilfillan and Sean Tonnet, relationship counsellors from Interrelate Family Centres, and discuss the importance of preparing our relationship during pregnancy for the enormous challenges. We explore how to build 'relationship scaffolding' and understand 'your dance as a couple'. A key tip is to discuss expectations you have about your new lives together, for example who will care for the baby and how.

Published: 02/08/2017

Since the invention of the mobile phone nearly 30 years ago, we have seen an explosion of wireless technologies come into our lives. Now, almost everyone has a mobile phones, children included, WiFi throughout our homes, smart meters, and now with 5G mobile technology on its way we'll find ourselves surrounded more than ever before with electromagnetic radiation (EMR) or electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs).

But is it safe? Our babies and children are being exposed in a way we never were. Will we live to regret our love affair with mobile technology?

In this episode Sally shares her experience with EMR exposure and how to protect herself. She speaks with naturopath and author Sherrill Sellman about how EMR impacts the body and how we can protect ourselves.

The main take-home lessons for me?

* Use your mobile phone on speaker mode, or use plug-in ear phones. Do not hold it to your head or carry it on your body, especially pregnant bodies.

* Turn your mobile phone onto "Airplane" mode when in the care and if you give it to your child to play with.

* Turn your wifi off at night.

* Get rid of your cordless phone. These things emit incredibly high levels of EMFs.

* Cover your smart meters with covers you can buy, or make your own (see Youtube for examples :)

* Don't use your laptop on your lap. Type from a separate keyboard/mouse rather than directly onto your laptop when you can.

Broadcast on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay on Monday 31 July 2017.

Sherrill Sellman: www.whatwomenmustknow.com

Sherrill's podcasts: http://prn.fm/category/archives/what-women-must-know/

Other resources mentioned:

* EMF Researchers: Professor Emeritus Martin Pall, Dr Erica Mallory Blythe, Dr Devra Davis.

* Free information on EMR/EMFs: www.emraware.com

* ABC TV Catalyst episode of "Wi-fried": http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s4411611.htm

* https://www.bellybelly.com.au/baby/can-wifi-affect-your-baby-during-pregnancy-or-after/

* https://www.bellybelly.com.au/pregnancy/ultrasounds-pregnancy-risks-benefits/

* WHO's listing of EMFs as Class 2B possible carcinogen: http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/

* Example skeptic site: http://www.emfandhealth.com/

* Building biologists offer services for assessing the EMR in your home, such as www.healthylivingspaces.com.au (I can't vouch for this service as I haven't used it.)

* One of the technologies available to assist the body's reaction to EMR is Magnetic Resonance Effect Technology (MRET). (I can't vouch for this either.)

Happy researching! Let us know what you find at our Facebook page or hello@pbbmedia.org.

Produced and presented by: Sally Cusack 2017

New baby? Call in the village.

Published: 20/07/2017

Jayne Alder, midwife, mother and grandmother, speaks about the three main issues new mother struggle with:

sleeping, feeding and thinking they have to be super mum.

But it really does take a village to raise a child, especially a new baby. New mothers are making the biggest transition of their lives and they deserve lots of support. Don't shy from asking for help. You are not meant to do it on your own.

And you won't struggle as much with your baby being unsettled, not having enough milk or not getting enough sleep.

And remember: "You are doing a wonderful job. You know what to do. Your baby wants you to be his mother." - Jayne Alder.

www.jaynealder.com

Produced and presented by Sally Cusack.

www.pbbmedia.org

"As Long as the Baby is Healthy" - Part 2

Published: 14/07/2017

We all want a healthy baby, there's no question of that, but Sally believes there are underlying beliefs to the common phrase "As long as the baby is healthy" that deserve closer examination. Are we giving up elements of birth that are more important than we realise when we say this?

Sally has identified 6 underlying beliefs to the statement "As long as the baby is healthy". The first three underlying beliefs were covered in Part 1:

http://www.spreaker.com/user/pregnancybirthandbeyond/as-long-as-the-baby-is-healthy-part-1

In this episode, part 2, Sally covers the following underlying beliefs:

* “Birth is dangerous and needs to be managed medically. Positive births are due to luck.”

* “Labour and birth are simply painful, pointless torture."

* “My experience is irrelevant and people who seek a positive experience are selfish and exposing the baby to risk.”

SPEAKERS

Dr Kirsten Small, obstetrician and PhD candidate

Professor Alec Welsh, University of NSW and obstetrician at Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney

Dr Sarah Buckley, GP, author and researcher on physiological birth

Published: 22/06/2017

Biotoxins can be produced by the body in response to all sorts of allergens, such as dust and mould.

Reine DuBois, naturopath from The Health Lodge, Byron Bay, speaks with Sally about biotoxins, what stimulates them being made by the body, the impacts of them, and how to heal from them. Your suspected tick-borne illness could in fact be inflammation caused by biotoxins produced by your body in response to mould. Water damaged homes have a lot to answer for, and the mould that lives in them must be removed in order for the biotoxins in your body to disappear.

Reine cites the work of Drs Ritchie Shoemaker of survivemold.com and Christabelle Yeoh.

www.thehealthlodge.com.au

Music: "Call on the Rain" by Elijah Ray

Produced and presented by Sally Cusack

www.pbbmedia.org

Adolescence: The Challenges and the Opportunities

Published: 09/06/2017

Robin Grille speaks on the era of adolescence, the unique challenges for not only our adolescents in their transformation, but also for us as their parents and guides. Our adolescents can press our buttons, bring out stress and fear in us, but this can have the effect of pushing them away from us, unable to hear. And in this space, we find ourselves also unable to learn from them.

Instead, Robin Grille poses the idea that we can use this period to enquire deeply into what triggers our responses to our adolescents. It is possible that our negative reactions are linked to our 'unfinished business' from our younger years. Perhaps by revisiting this period, our kids help finally grow us up.

Music: "Natural Selections" by Sampology

Presented by Sally Cusack, first aired on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay on 5 June 2017.

Mothers Moving Mountains and Saving our Birth Services

Published: 19/05/2017

At the 2009 Peace Conference in Canada, the Dalai Lama said ‘The world will be saved by the Western Woman’.

In towns and suburbs around Australia, we're seeing our birth services being saved by women. We have world class policies and research for providing the highest standard of maternity care, but health services are slow to implement them.

Birth services are being closed in regional and rural areas, or not delivering continuity of care, the safest form of care.

So, when faced with the removal of these birth choices, these women step from their lives as mothers of young children, right out into the arena of activism, often for the first time in their lives.

Drafting letters, forming community groups, organising rallies, painting placards, attending meetings with health service officials, and more, is asked of them to bring about change. It's never easy, but without their efforts, change for the better would simply never happen.

The women we hear from in this episode are:

- Rachel Bryant behind the campaign that saved the Murwillumbah Birth Centre

- Samantha Wibberley, part of the group who is working to save the midwifery group practice (MGP, ie continuity of care programme) at Tamworth Hospital

- Helena Mooney, leading the community action to ensure woman-centred care like MGP is available on the Northern Beaches of Sydney

National health and quality standard, Standard 2: Partnering with Consumers now obliges all health services to engage with their communities in the planning, implementation and review of their service.

We also hear from Melissa Fox, CEO of Health Consumers Queensland on consumer engagement, why it's important and what can be achieved with it.

Consumer groups like Maternity Choices Australia are available to support anyone wanting to see better birth choices in their region.

With sincere thanks to all our contributors in this episode.

References:

Standard 2: Partnering with Consumers:

https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Standard2_Oct_2012_WEB.pdf

41% of maternity services closed from 1992-2011: Kildea, S, et al https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25845486

Websites:

www.maternitychoices.org.au

www.hcq.org.au

Facebook groups:

Friends of Murwillumbah Birth Centre

Friends of Tamworth Maternity Services

Friends of NB Maternity Services

Aired on 99.9 BayFm on Monday 15 May 2017.

Presented by Sally Cusack

Paul Crebar on Parenting for our Planet

Published: 26/04/2017

Paul Crebar, Production Manager from Renewfest.org.au (6-7 May 2017), among many other things, speaks about the potential for parenting as an investment in our future, rather than purely work.

Paul quotes Dr Marion Rose: "Responding promptly to their physical needs and treating their bodies with love and respect means that they learn to respond promptly to their physical needs and treat their body with love and respect, and that loving respect then gets generalised so that they also treat other people’s bodies and the physical world with love and respect too."

And discusses the work of Robin Grille, author of "Parenting for a Peaceful World" and "Heart to Heart Parenting".

Paul would like to see a society that supports parents to spend the time needed with their children to raise them to secure and happy individuals, ready to support others, and the planet.

Other references:

* John Abbott from the 21st learning initiative: http://www.21learn.org

* The Dunedin Study: http://dunedinstudy.otago.ac.nz/

View documentary at: http://www.sbs.com.au/topics/science/humans/article/2016/05/24/exceptional-scientific-study-thats-been-going-over-40-years

* John Campbell: "Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only doors."

* Renewfest.org.au

* Luminousyouth.com

Aired on 99.9 BayFM on Monday 24 April 2017. Presented by Sally Cusack.

Mindfulness for Peaceful Parenting

Published: 06/04/2017

Christine Berry, mum to three boys, speaks of her experience in bringing mindfulness into her life as a single parent and to support her during the teen parenting years.

Christine Berry: www.alifesublime.com.au

Christine references this video by Dan Siegel about the brains of teenagers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLULtUPyhog

Presented by Sally Cusack.

Aired on 99.9 BayFM on Monday 3 April 2017 Byron Bay Australia.

Making our maternity care the best it can be

Published: 23/03/2017

The evidence is in, the policies exist yet 92% of Australian women do not have the best form of maternity care - continuity of woman-centred care near where they live.

Instead they must make do with fragmented care with a string of unknown clinicians, even though continuity of care has been proven to give the best outcomes to mothers and babies. The benefits are many, but the biggest one is that your baby is more likely to survive pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period if you have continuity of woman-centred care.

Since 2010 Australian has had a national plan to improve maternity services, but delivery of our health services is so inefficient it has been largely ignored all that time.

The good news is that national Standard 2: Partnering with Consumers requires all health services to partner with women and families in designing and delivering health services.

Yay! We have a role to play and a job to do. Find out about this story peppered with passionate characters, and what you can do in this podcast.

With thanks to interviewees:

Professor Caroline Homer, President of the Australian College of Midwives

Bruce Teakle, maternity services consumer advocate

Leah Hardiman, President, Maternity Choices Australia

Sheryl Sidery, independent midwife

Tiff, continuity of care mother

Other acknowledgements:

* My son saying "Daddy caught the baby!" at his sister's birth in 2008. Heart-felt thanks from our family to midwife Jacqui Wood who held our hands along the journey.

* Homebirth rally sound effects from "Melbourne Homebirth Rally 4th August 2009"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhfSJlWbMaU

* "I love being a midwife" sung by midwifery students at BRAC University, Bangladesh at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F319Z8ujBDU

References:

* http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/maternityservicesplan

* www.maternitychoices.org.au

* And the new draft framework is just out this week! Check it out and have your say here:

https://www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au/gi/consultation/3805/view.html

You can also contact us or Maternity Choices Australia to help understand it!! :)

* Standard 2: Partnering with Consumers

https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Standard2_Oct_2012_WEB.pdf

* Barnett, B "The Personal is Political..." http://www.maternitychoices.org.au/national-maternity-services-plan.html

* 30% of women tokophobic: (http://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2393-14-275)

* Aust Senate-maternity service delivery not sustainable: Aust Senate, 1999 Rocking the Cradle: Federal Senate Inquiry into Childbirth Procedures. AGPS, Canberra

* 1 in 7 women with PNDA: www.panda.org.au

* 41% of maternity units closed 1994-2011: Kildea, S, et al, "Babies born before arrival to hospital and maternity unit closures in Queensland and Australia" accessed from http://www.womenandbirth.org/article/S1871-5192(15)00039-6/fulltext

* Est. of 8% of women receiving cont. of care: Dawson K, et al. Implementing caseload midwifery: Exploring the views of maternity managers in Australia – A national cross-sectional survey. Women Birth (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2015.10.010

* Cochrane review "Midwife-led continuity models of care compared with other models of care for women during pregnancy, birth and early parenting" http://www.cochrane.org/CD004667/PREG_midwife-led-continuity-models-care-compared-other-models-care-women-during-pregnancy-birth-and-early

www.pbbmedia.org

Producer and presenter: Sally Cusack

"As Long as the Baby is Healthy" Part 1

Published: 03/03/2017

Sally has identified 6 underlying beliefs to the statement "As long as the baby is healthy", but there are bound to be more. These are:

1. “I am not qualified. Someone else needs to manage my birth.”

2. “My rights and my health and safety are subordinate to my baby’s. I must comply with my carer’s treatment.”

3. “The hospital/my maternity carer wants the same outcome as me.”

4. “Birth is dangerous and needs to be managed medically. Positive births are due to luck.”

5. “Labour and birth are simply painful, pointless torture. My partner has only a limited ability to support the process.”

6. “My experience is irrelevant and women who seek a positive experience are selfish and exposing the baby to risk.”

CLARIFICATION: At 1'16" insert "normal risk" to read "Over 90% of 'normal risk' Australian women go into labour with no pre-existing conditions"

In Part 1 of this 2 part series, Sally covers underlying beliefs 1-3, which focus on women's rights in childbirth and informed consent.

In Part 2 Sally covers beliefs 4-6, which relate to the physical aspects of the birth process: http://www.spreaker.com/user/pregnancybirthandbeyond/as-long-as-the-baby-is-healthy-part-2

Speakers:

Bashi Hazard, Human Rights Lawyer, www.humanrightsinchildbirth.org

Bec Jenkinson, Univ. Queensland PhD candidate and maternity services consumer advocate

References:

* https://ama.com.au/position-statement/maternal-decision-making-2013

* Intervention rates: http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129547757

* Australia's Mothers and Babies Report 2014: http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129557657

* Rebecca Schiller, “Why Human Rights in Childbirth Matter”, Pinter and Martin, 2016 (https://www.capersbookstore.com.au/product/whyhumanrightsinchildbirthmatter/)

* https://theconversation.com/episiotomy-during-childbirth-not-just-a-little-snip-36062

* Ann Catchlove "Yes I can, No I won't", Birth Matters 14/2 Autumn 2010

* "Rates of obstetric intervention... among low risk women in public and private hospitals" http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/4/5/e004551

* http://www.panda.org.au/news/412-research-reveals-the-alarming-economic-cost-of-postnatal-depression-

* "Birth control: to what extent do women report being informed and involved in decisions about pregnancy and birth procedures? "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3923734/

Published: 09/02/2017

Sally's interview with mother, yoga teacher and speaker Lissie Turner on the opportunities for personal growth that parenting presents us, particularly when raising teens and step parenting.

www.lissieturner.com

http://www.theyogashack.com.au/

http://yogatherapyaustralia.com/dr-n-chandrasekaran-mbbs-dr-nc/

Aired on 99.9BayFM Byron Bay on 6 February 2017.

Produced and presented by Sally Cusack.

www.pbbmedia.org

“I sang at the top of my lungs, and found the safest birth care for me and my baby”

Published: 31/01/2017

Over 80% of women can expect to give birth normally, given the right support - continuity of care that is founded on the understanding that birth is usually a normal process. Midwifery group practices in local hospitals are one way to give that support. We hear two women's stories from the Byron Community Birthing Service in Byron Bay Australia.

Thank you to Candice and Tiffany for sharing your stories.

Speakers:

* Mothers, Candice and Tiffany,

* the late Dr Marsden Wagner, Perinatologist and World Health Organisation’s Director of Women's and Children's Health for 15 years

* Dr Alec Welsh is a Professor of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney

* Sally Tracy, Professor of Midwifery at the University of Sydney and the Royal Hospital for Women

References:

* “Models of maternity care: evidence for midwifery continuity of care”, Homer, CSE MJA 205 (8) j 17 October 2016

* The late Dr Marsden Wagner speaking with Diana Paul about normal birth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm8ErQxTFyo

* Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australia’s mothers and babies 2013

* “The Global Numbers and Costs of Additionally Needed and Unnecessary Caesarean Sections Performed per Year: Overuse as a Barrier to Universal Coverage” World Health Organisation 2010

* ACOG Jan. 2017 recommendations re. cont. of care: http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Pregnancy/62745

* “Caseload midwifery compared to standard or private obstetric care for first time mothers in a public teaching hospital in Australia: a cross sectional study of cost and birth outcomes”, Tracy et al, Biomed Central Pregnancy and Birth

* Cochrane review: (Hodnett, et al, "Continuous support for women during childbirth” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23857334)

* Health services globally are headed towards bankruptcy by 2030: STEFAN ELBE, Professor of International Relations, University of Sussex and Director of Centre for Global Health Policy

* Maternity Choices Australia: www.maternitychoices.org.au

Aired on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay on 30 January 2017.

Photo credit: Byron Community Birthing Service Midwives by Humans of Byron Bay

Produced and presented by Sally Cusack.

Sally Cusack's Podcasts

2020 - 2019 - 2018 - 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014

Special feature podcast series:

Plus 17 radio show podcasts produced by Sally:

Published: 31/12/2017

Published: 23/11/2017

Published: 02/11/2017

Published: 29/09/2017

Published: 11/08/2017

Published: 02/08/2017

Published: 20/07/2017

Published: 14/07/2017

Published: 22/06/2017

Published: 09/06/2017

Published: 19/05/2017

Published: 26/04/2017

Published: 06/04/2017

Published: 23/03/2017

Published: 03/03/2017

Published: 09/02/2017

Published: 31/01/2017

What We Do

Organisation

Disclaimers / Terms of Use

Sally Cusack's Podcasts

2020 - ​2019 - 2018 - 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014

Special feature podcast series:

Plus 17 radio show podcasts produced by Sally:

Published: 31/12/2017

Published: 23/11/2017

Published: 02/11/2017

Published: 29/09/2017

Published: 11/08/2017

Published: 02/08/2017

Published: 20/07/2017

Published: 14/07/2017

Published: 22/06/2017

Published: 09/06/2017

Published: 19/05/2017

Published: 26/04/2017

Published: 06/04/2017

Published: 23/03/2017

Published: 03/03/2017

Published: 09/02/2017

Published: 31/01/2017

What We Do

Organisation

Disclaimers / Terms of Use

2020 - 2019 - 2018 - 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014