Hurrah! regards, Mary Murphy. ----- Original Message ----- From: h&m <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Ozmidwifery <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, August 21, 1999 12:47 PM Subject: life! > Dear colleagues > > I have just ploughed through forty emails and a wealth of discussion and > wisdom. I want to make some fairly fragmented points. On Wednesday > morning at 4am my mother in law died in our home. After three months of > Acute Leukaemia she achieved in death what she had never achieved in > life-power. She made her desires to die at home known to us early on and > we respected that wish. She was surrounded by her family, her garden, > and her dignity was maintained to the end. I am reminded of a poem I saw > on a memorial in the Bavarian forest years ago that said 'we are such > stuff that dreams are made of and our lives are rounded with a little > sleep.' It was such a peaceful sleepy death. As the warmth left her body > we played music and sat around her bed. A short while later we went out > to watch the sun rise and gaze at the fading stars. There was > extraordinary peace and beauty in those moments we spent accepting her > passing. I was confronted by the reality of how different her death > would have been in hospital. > > Our medicalisation of birth and death have given our lives a taste of > fear when we should be experiencing our most treasured and real moments. > >From our beginnings to our endings we have learnt to fear life and > struggle against its simplicity and inevitability. So much energy > wasted, so many valuable moments lost. > > As midwives when we stand watching over birth, protecting the mother's > wishes, facilitating the power of women, we achieve our greatest > moments. The more we see the power and potential of women realised the > less we are really needed and the better the experience is. I warned you > this was fragmented! It is women that have taught us the skills we have > today as midwives. So why do we have this fear or resistance to their > participation in our professional body? Once again we fear. We fear what > may happen, and how it may not work, and what if, and have we thought > about that, and we do just what we do every day to birth a death, we > control, restrain and never experience the possibilities awaiting us. If > we are frightened of having women have a say in our professional issues > then I think we should re-examine what being a midwife is. Is it is not > with women? I also think we should ask ourselves have we really got > anything to lose. We have not got a spectacular thing happening here > with midwifery in our country. While we think of all the what if's > regarding women in our professional body let us ask have we really got > that much to lose. I don't think so. We have been chasing our tails for > years now with rhetoric and committees and working parties and more > rhetoric and committees and working parties and I think we have been too > safe for too long. We can keep going in circles or we can take a risk > and see if all of the rhetoric, committees and working parties have any > basis. > > Having recently seen the power of consumers as we (NSWMA) lobby for > rebates for midwifery care I am even more convinced we need to work with > women. Yes, there will be problems and yes, it won't be easy but we > don't exactly have Utopia now so what have we to lose. We need to answer > all the questions that have been posed on the list and we need the > doubting Thomas's to help us deal with the practical details but let's > deal with them and let us move on. I for one think life is to short and > I'm simply dizzy from all this circular action. The NSWMA voted on > pursing the matter of consumers being involved in the association as a > matter of urgency at our recent AGM. It's time to get a move on. Let's > stop fearing all the possibilities! There are thousands of those and > most are imaginary. Perhaps what we really fear is it might work and the > old toothless lion will awake with a roaring powerful reality. Women and > midwives power in partnership! Is this simply rhetoric to make IMD > balloons look pretty or is it a belief???? > > Hannah > > -- > This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. > Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. > -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
