Dear Mary and midwives on the list
What is happening at the John Hunter is deplorable and it highlights how
vulnerable individual innovative projects are. I hope everyone will write
and say how important this project is in the development of woman-centred
maternity services in Australia. The same thing happened to the project
that I used to work in and it drove us into finding a way to be part of
mainstream (NHS) service provision. I am heartened by the number of
hospitals in South Australia who are thinking of moving towards changing
the whole maternity service they provide in order to offer continuity of
care to all women.
In relation to comments about the difference in climate here compared to
the disillusionment in the UK - these are only impressions and no doubt
it's foolish to generalise - but being a compulsive Polyanna I feel
compelled to suggest that because midwifery here has got a much bigger job
to do to create change there is a huge commitment here that is lacking in
much of the UK (where most of the resistance is from midwives and of course
there are still brilliant things happening there - it's not all doom and
gloom). It's easier to be complacent if you're giving a reasonable service
to women in the first place. The vision and enthusiasm of midwives on this
list (and at the New Models Conference in Adelaide last year) reminds me of
the climate in the Association of Radical Midwives back in the 1980s. This
'coming together' in recognition of the need for radical change resulted in
catalysts like 'The Vision and the re-introduction of 'direct entry'
programmes - changes that could not have been predicted in the early 80s.
So I'm feeling really positive about what we are doing here which isn't to
underestimate how grim it is many areas and how frustrating it is at times.
Mary - you asked about the Nurses Act in SA. We almost got a Nurses and
Midwives Act. Not quite this time - but as always the process was crucial
to raising important midwifery issues. The Midwives Act Lobby Group (a
group of active women and midwives) continue to meet to work on the issues
and have important resources to share. The Democrats were very supportive,
particularly Sandra Kank who took on our cause in the upper house - so we
did get a loose definition of a midwife and 'midwifery' included in the
final Bill.
What continues to be a primary issue is the need to define midwifery as a
separate profession to nursing in a way that makes sense to nursing and
does not alienate everyone - old rhetoric about wellness, holistic care and
practitioners is not going to get us anywhere and doesn't make sense in
relation to developments in either profession. I could go on about this but
need to get down to some work - it's the stuff of my paper for Hobart if
anyone is interested.
And yes Mary - please keep speaking out even when it feels like a lonely
place to be. Some of the best changes have come about because people with
vision 'talked them up'!
Nicky
Nicky Leap, Senior Research Fellow, Midwifery
The Flinders University of South Australia, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001
Tel: (08) 8201 3442 Fax: (08) 8201 3410
Home: 'Cennednyss', Summertown, SA 5141 Tel/Fax: (08) 8390 1069
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