Squaring the Circle: Normal birth research, theory and practice in a technological age

Squaring the Circle is a cutting-edge and comprehensive collection of the latest research and debate on normal childbirth. Based on a salutogenic approach – focusing on factors that support human health and well-being, rather than on factors that cause disease – it helps our understanding of what works and why it works, as well as helping health practitioners turn this knowledge into best practice.

Written by world-renowned experts in their field, and edited by Soo Downe and Sheena Byrom, the editors of the acclaimed The Roar Behind the Silence, Squaring the Circle includes an examination of a range of associated evidence in areas as diverse as architecture for optimal birth environments, the impact of birth events on neonatal DNA methylation and the microbiome, the current knowledge base around oxytocin production in labour, and the role of emotion in the workplace.

Case studies of successful change from around the world – from service users, activists and maternity care staff – provide inspiration for innovation while hints and tips help to make such change happen.

Soo is a Professor of Midwifery Studies at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. Her specific focus is the normal physiology of childbirth, including the processes which can maximise normal birth. She is the Chair of the International Birth Research and Action Association (IBRAA) which builds on the EU funded BIRTH network, involving over 120 scientists and activists in 33 countries. She has worked on WHO guidelines, and has published more than 140 peer-reviewed papers and books. She  was awarded an OBE in 2011.

Sheena Byrom has been a midwife since the 1970s, and latterly as a consultant midwife and head of midwifery. She writes and lectures regularly on childbirth and midwifery related topics, and is the joint owner of all4maternity.com an online learning platform for maternity workers, incorporating The Practising Midwife journal. Sheena received an OBE for services to midwifery in 2011, and has been awarded two honorary doctorates in 2016 and 2018.  

Her first book, Catching Babies, was published in 2011 to rave reviews (Headline).

You can follow Sheena on Twitter and visit her website here.

Together they previously edited The Roar Behind the Silence (Pinter & Martin).