We are all passionate about midwifery or we would not be on this list.
However, there is a place for some pragmatic approaches in negotiations -
around developing woman-centred midwifery services and 'direct entry'
midwifery education - and that's about being political. There are good
political (and humane) reasons also to define midwifery in a way that does
not alienate others, in particular nurses, who are also defining their
profession in terms of holistic, wellness centred care and autonomous
practice - and my paper in Hobart was all about defining midwifery as
separate from nursing so I won't go on about it here. Lack of respect for
colleagues (and I include midwifery colleagues on this list here) can be
offensive and hurtful. We need to be aware of the language we use when
expressing our passion for midwifery - the language of combat 'back fires'.
In South Australia there is no union representing midwifery other than the
ANF. As a non-nurse I have joined the ANF because I recognise that they are
the only body at present who are in a position of power in terms of
negotiating wages and conditions that will enable midwives to work in the
public service providing continuity of care/carer. Clearly there needs to
be new awards such as an annualised salary and the ANF are the only body
that are in a position to do this on our behalf at the moment.
People (myself included) use the term 'industrial' rather loosely. Perhaps
we need to separate out from workplace agreements the industrial benefits
of a professional body that provides free professional and legal advice and
representation at meetings with management, Nurses Boards or law courts -
particularly where there is a potential claim of professional misconduct.
This aspect of the industrial arm of the Royal College of Midwives in the
UK is what motivates the members (30,000) to join and pay considerable
subscriptions (same story in NZ I think). Perhaps we (ACMI) should consider
investing in a team of employed people to set up and run an industrial arm
of the College, raise the fees and promote understanding of what is on
offer - and then maybe we would get a membership that would pay for the
infrastructure and personnel required to run a midwifery professional body
with 'clout'.
Cheers
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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