There are already many direct entry midwives working in Australian
hospitals...I have worked with 2 in the birth centre at King George Sydney,
One originally from Germany and another from the Netherlands, both excellent
midwives, mainly because they didnt have to "unlearn" all the 'sickness
model' you get when train as a nurse.......
I also assess many direct entry overseas midwives for registration in NSW as
midwives through the College of nursing, and hospitals are employing them
after they register. These women are very wholistic, very devoted to
midwifery and very skilled as all-round midwives and even as women's nurses
(for example one midwife I worked with inserted IUD's in Iran...something
only doctors do here), they cannulate (mothers, as well as babies for NBST),
suture beautifully, know all their pathology, even perform ultrasounds if
necessary in their own country and really know how to support the natural
birth process....unlike much of the 'obstetric nurse' training I had to
'unlearn' after my midwifery training.
They actually find our system quite restrictive.
I think we can really learn from these gifted midwives and learn from their
experiences. They learn as much about pregnancy, birth and parenting (and
everything that can 'go wrong'), as "nurses' learn about diseases, and are
very competent in emergency situations because they are trained as totally
autonomous practitioners. I have seen even the most expereinced Australian
'nurse-midwives' who have worked in delivery suites for years, panic about
working in a birth centre...because they are ON THEIR OWN....instead of
having 6 pairs of hands and a doctor handy at all times.The direct entry
women are used to doing it 'all' and are ideal in birth centre situations.
I only hope that the midwives our system produces (no matter what path that
takes) produces midwives as qualified as these women...it certainly took me
many post-grad years to get to the level that these midwives graduate at.
Cath Price
Midwife
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