Hi Reader

Dad Joke: Why do babies scream so much? Their womb service got cut off!

Song of the Week: Ellie Goulding - Still falling for you​

They say you only really learn something when you teach it. I can vouch for the fact that, at least in my case, this is 100% true.

Teaching something makes you examine the subject from every angle. Every time I teach something I come away with a new perspective. Especially when there a question that makes me take a step back and re-examine what I thought I knew about a fact. Especially when it’s a fact that you take for granted is accepted as gospel.

Like say for instance…the human cervix only dilates to 10cm…

I have read this in countless textbooks and research articles and have never questioned it…until…I got asked about it this weekend teaching in up north in Chester. A colleague I have known for ages was on the course and in the break, she said that it just didn’t make sense. Pregnant people come in all shapes and sizes and so why would a cervix always magically be fully dilated at 10cm? I didn’t have an answer…what she said made sense and so my train ride home was devoted to finding out.

Turns out…she was right.

No one measures this with a ruler (thankfully). The average is 10cm but “10cm” is used as a metonym, a substitute for saying “fully dilated”. It is a mechanistic approach which (and I’ll agree with chilledmama.co.uk here) can take the power out of mum’s hands and diminish the weight of the interoception of the labouring person.

My go-to midwife confirmed this with saying that its more about how far your fingers can stretch and you can’t feel anymore cervix. Its counted as “10” which means you can’t feel it anymore. Yet under the “10cm” the same 1,2,3,4…markers are used.

I learnt something today that I will take with me, and it will become part of what I teach now. I will be able to give a more accurate description and it is all because of someone who gave me a perspective I would otherwise not have had.

Thank you Britt. At least my train ride home was made useful!

Chat soon

Mike

Here's a list dates for my upcoming seminars:

• 7 & 8 June 2025 - Common Infant Conditions, Chester, UK
• 6 & 7 Sept 2025 - Paeds in Motion Part 1 (The Young Child) Wales, UK (bookings with michellebushell3@hotmail.co.uk for Wales.)

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Connected Paediatrics – Dr Mike Marinus is a registered paediatric chiropractor treating babies and children and helping chiropractors learn effective paediatric techniques that they can use in their practice

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