I was thrilled to have this reply from Joy Johnson and have forwarded it to the list for you all to read and ponder, she is such an inspiration!
--- Begin Message ---Dear Dawn I'm not able to reply to the ozmid list, as I am not registered. However I saw your response, and am glad you have spoken in favour of midwife continuity of care. Please feel free to forward this to the list - if you wish.I am not surprised at the direction this discussion has taken, but I am very disappointed. In my experience many of those who simply couldn't possibly work on call for just a few women a month have never tried it, yet they are willing to speak out against it. Even when 4 babies are born in a week, the midwife can only be in one place at one time, and has to have arrangements to deal with such times. There is a lot of discretionary time in which the midwife has control over what she does, and is able to read and write and counsel and all those other things we do. Why is it that women do better with a known midwife? Surely that should carry some weight for a professional in deciding how she/he should manage time. Another point in this discussion that noone seems to have picked up is the subtle put-down of midwives by the doctor who "supports midwifery models of care, particularly those that offer integrated choice so that midwives and obstetricians". That's just using language - "integrated choice" - to maintain the status quo of medical control. This is the argument that many obstetricians have been dishing up for years. "Collaboration" is another way of saying the same thing. What other specialist doctor offers an integrated choice - like so that the school teacher and the psychiatrist can work together at the primary teaching level in case the kids develop psychiatric illness. I'm not anti-doctor. When an obstetrician is needed I want someone who is clear thinking, objective, and highly skilled. I want her/him to look with fresh eyes at the whole woman-child, and give specialist advice and care. I do NOT want an obstetrician to supervise the practise of midwifery. I hope that when NMAP is implemented there will be enough midwives who are willing to give it a go. (I declare my interest here, as one of the contributing authors) Midwives who hold strongly to a hospital/nursing identity may in the future need to prove that they have the right to use the title 'midwife'. We in Australia can't afford to ignore contemporary midwifery competence in the global scene, especially if we care about the health and wellbeing of those in our care. As you know the reality for most midwives is that even if they would be willing to work as primary carer for a known group of women our system prevents them. I have had my own practice for the past decade, and I have loved my work. I don't always have another midwife booked to attend the birth with me, and I take up to 4 births per month. I now have had to quit, due to the insurance crisis. That's my thoughts for now, Joy Johnston -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:owner-ozmidwifery@;acegraphics.com.au] On Behalf Of Dawn Worgan Sent: Friday, 1 November 2002 10:22 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] Obstetric Perception - Your thoughts? Debby M wrote: > I have recently been corresponding with a friend of mine who is an > obstetrician. He supports midwifery models of care, particularly > those that offer integrated choice so that midwives and obstetricians > can work together. > > He did state to me however that he believes one of the great obstacles > to such models is the reluctance of most midwives to work other than > an 8 hour shift, and to possibly have to do away with family time and > holidays and to be called out at odd hours to attend births. > > I am sure there are probably some out there that do like the straight > forwardness of shifts however I would be interested to hear the > opinion of you ladies (and gentlemen) about your experience of the > dedication of midwives when they are expected to provide ongoing > antenatal, birth and postnatal support - outside the normal 8 hour > shift, as my gut feeling is that the majority of midwives would love > the opportunity to be able to fully use their skills in the support > and care of pregnant and birthing women without unnecessary "guidance" > or interferrence. > > Debby > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Protect your PC - Click here <http://g.msn.com/8HMREN/2024> for > McAfee.com VirusScan Online -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE > Graphics. Visit to subscribe or unsubscribe. I work in a caseload model of care which means on call plus all the things you mentioned, and personally I love it (most of the time) but when we are looking for other midwives to replace us for long service leave or whatever, we cant get midwives interested and we often have comments like "I dont know how you do it!" or" I have a life outside work" (so do I is my reply I fit work in around my life not the other way around) but its a long standing culture we need to work at changing my hope lies in the new direct entry midwives who believe what I do is the norm !So though I wish it wasn't the case I think your friend is right. -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.410 / Virus Database: 231 - Release Date: 31/10/2002 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.410 / Virus Database: 231 - Release Date: 31/10/2002--- End Message ---
