home support

[Thrupps]

Hi all     Just popping out of the closet to reply to ... sleep deprivation, going home early and support at home.     I believe that women who birth in hospitals should be at home as soon as practical, but of course the lack of support is a problem.     As a consequence of this, we have a new project underway at the Lyell McEwin Health Service in Adelaide whereby women will be able to go home within hours of birthing. The hospital will then supply them with a doula (we are seeking an aboriginal term for this person) or home help or whatever you wish to name them. They will help with household tasks, shopping, assist with caring for the other children and will also have an understanding of the postnatal woman and the newborn baby. The Home Visiting Midwives will remain the day to day midwifery care givers.        It is the brain child of Prof Gus Dekker (from the Netherlands who is a very strong advocate for midwifery care) and Di Beveridge and is based on the Netherlands model. A Project Officer has just been appointed and it is planned to have this up and running by February 2002. A pretty short timeframe considering that the care workers will receive 6 months of training!!       I thought that this might add to the volume of information that we all share via this list.     Cheers Vaal Thrupp