Dear all, At the risk of sending you slightly old news - I'm sending copies of the media releases I prepared and issued during the Midwifery conference in Darwin the week before last. We got strong media interest - over 20 radio stations, and some major newspapers and television.
For your info.... If you'd like to know more about any of them, pls contact me off list. Dr Barbara Vernon Executive Officer Australian College of Midwives Inc Level 1, 97 Northbourne Ave TURNER ACT 2612 Ph: 02 6230 7333 Fax: 02 6230 6033 www.acmi.org.au MEDIA RELEASE Wednesday 3 September 2003 �NO RAINBOW WITHOUT RAIN: NO BABY WITHOUT PAIN!� �Epidural makes you bored at the most beautiful time of your life�, says Dutch midwife of 25 years experience, Ms Beatrijis Smulders. Speaking to a national meeting of midwives from across Australia today, Ms Smulders said that women in the Netherlands expect the pain of labour to be a major challenge, like any other woman does. The difference is that they don�t want or use pain relief like epidural because they and their carers know that you keep the birth safe by having pain in labour.� The Netherlands has among the lowest rates of maternal and infant death in the developed world. It also has the lowest rates of medical intervention in childbirth. �The safest way to have your baby is by having labour pain�, Dutch midwife Beatrijis Smulders told a national meeting of Australian midwives today. �Your task as a woman is to have a strong labour�, Ms Smulders said. �Midwives work to help women be strong in themselves and to embrace the pain of labour as a normal and healthy part of bringing a new human being into the world. �It is normal for women to have moments during their labour when they feel fearful. So be fearful for a while but don�t try to control it. Then your body takes over and your baby is born.� In the Netherlands, the vast majority of women give birth in the care of a midwife, who services are free to the woman. Only women who have a medical problem have an obstetrician, says Ms Smulders. �And when the woman needs an obstetrician it is because something is wrong�. If you are going to take the responsibility for a safe birth you should take the responsibility for the pain. MEDIA CONTACT via Dr Barbara Vernon 0438 855 529 -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
