Dear Colleagues Sometimes I get so frustrated with maternity care in this country and the seemingly insurmountable obstacles that I just want to get out of midwifery so I don�t have to witness it any more. But as a woman and mother I can't do that, especially when I know that linking hands with all of you might finally make that shimmering mirage a reality. To steal a famous saying, 'ask not what you College can do for you but what you can do for your college.' As a child I often complained to my mother about the perfect group of friends I would one day find and do amazing things with. This utopia was always somehow out of my reach. My friends were never quite perfect enough and wouldn�t always go along with me. My mum would smile her sweet, serene smile and say 'when you find that group don't join them because you will spoil them'. I used to huff off thinking my mother had little regard for my tender but hugely inflated ego and guess what? I never found that perfect group of people because they don�t exist. We are all human and therefore by that definition not perfect yet so beautifully individual and amazingly interesting. I listen to the Nigels, Carols, Trishs, Pats, Joys, Marinas and I know this is as perfect as it gets and at least I can join this group and not be worried about spoiling it. And you are an amazing bunch of passionate dedicated midwives. Some of us want to jump into the maternity care issue without a parachute, others want to jump with a parachute and others still are clinging to the door of the plane and watching to see what happens to those who have jumped. Some who have jumped without a parachute will die and some may discover they can fly and find amazing new answers. Those who have used parachutes may find they get tangled up though most will make it okay and a few might catch the free fallers on the way down. They also will find answers. Those clinging to the plane door may eventually also jump when those who have gone before show them the way. And that is life and it�s okay. ACMI can�t be, won�t be, and should never be the perfect answer for midwifery. Because you and I are not perfect, not uniform, have different ways of being and getting there. And ACMI is you and me. So let�s join it. It�s not perfect but at least that way we won�t destroy it as my mum would say. Sorry to be so �Jonathan Livingstone Seagull� about this but I actually got on the net to say exactly what Joy said about Vanessa. Vanessa Owen has become the President of ACMI, Started and new job and moved to a new house and will be on the net as soon as she can get the computer linked up. If you need to talk to her urgently you can send an email via the Victoria branch office on [EMAIL PROTECTED] and she will get it. But remember also, Vanessa is not the answer, though I think she is bloody marvellous!! You and me are the answer!!! Hannah (parachutist) -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
