Dear Fiona
So many of us feel like this and it is not enough
to just get it off our chests!
We must never accept it we must work to
change it and the only way is to get political!
Trouble is in doing otherwise we support it,
contribute to it and the effects roll out as the mothers are disempowered to
mother etc...
Make Appointments and act!
1) Go tell your local members
of parliament
2) If you are in NSW or Victoria go and tell
every candidate and ask each one act to introduce Community Based midwifery
Programs
3) Arrange to talk to mothers group about NMAP
and what is possible and ask them to go ask their politicians for Community
Based midwifery Programs
Only by a ripple effect engendered with your
concern (imagine it multiplied by all on the list , their friends etc) will we
change this situation!
Play on the parochialness of Ozzies tell them of
how much better it is in NZ.!!
How about all of us dissatisfied Ozzie midwives
applying for NZ passports,??
Would that make Senator Knowless and John W
Pay attention to us and not the AMA??
Denise
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 8:34
PM
Subject: [ozmidwifery] Love of
midwifery
Dear list,
I am a midwife who is very passionate and very
for woman centred care. I love being a midwife and can not imagine not
being a midwife, but l have become so dissolusioned with the system that it
is breaking my heart. I have been a midwife for 5 years and feel that
the system (especially where l work in a large country city) which is
medical based has not changed. It has actually become worse.
Despite being a strong advocate for evidence based practice and presenting
this evidence to doctors and management, l have been walked all over, some
midwives have been yelled at, 'put in their places' by RESIDENTS and we have
basically have our hands tied. The amount of autonomy we have is
decreasing, which makes me feel sometimes that all the hospital wants are
obstetric nurses. They do not want midwives because they cause too
much trouble. Who cares about the women? Management want to make
the doctors happy and stuff the midwives.
One example, i am really against the use of CTG's
in normal pregnancy and labour. Because of one bad outcome, management
wants to introduce admission CTGs for all women who present in labour.
I produced for them so much evidence based material which actually states
that this is not a good idea, but they introduced it anyway. I dont
know why l try because nothing worse. I dont know what to do and all
my collegues feel like this as well. We need different models of care,
we need to take over the care of women in normal pregnancy and birth.
I fully endorse NMAP but will it have an effect in my workplace. Will
it really change the obnoxious doctors we work with and management who only
care about beds and money? Midwives have tried to get a midwives
clinic in this town for 11 years, but has been blocked by the doctors (one
in particular). We have no free antenatal care except for one midwife
who works with aboriginal women (who we also refer white women to). If
women only knew what was going on and they care they get from their doctors
is less than substandard.
I hate feeling like this. Women are being
ripped off, assulted, and their rights violated, and there is only so much l
can do. I do the best l can for these women but l feel that it is no
where near enough. It makes me feel like l have a hollow pit in my stomach
thinking of coming to work. But l love midwifery, and l know that what
ever happens, l need to go on...
sorry, but l really needed to get this off my
chest.
MIdwife trying to make a difference
Fiona Dunmore
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