From Joy Johnston [EMAIL PROTECTED] :
I think we all need to see Jan's case as an extreme case. This is bullying, and unfortunately it will always occur. Even midwives can be bullies. It�s a human trait to want to dominate and control. The doctor in this case may have been dreadfully upset about the loss of a baby the previous day. Hopefully he was. But his use of the experience to coerce the labouring woman and her partner into submission appears totally unfair.
Access to one to one midwifery � even NMAP � will not change the system overnight. The woman in the story had Jan with her, and Jan�s a very good midwife. Women in Australia will continue to seek out the care of specialist obstetricians as long as the system biases the care in that direction. In NZ you have to pay extra to see an ob without clinical indication � but there are still women who choose that option.
Justine�s reference to NZ is an example of how vastly different the options are in NZ to here. However I have to disagree with Justine�s conclusion that �we can�t settle for midwifery programs under the acute setting AT ALL!�
The acute setting has a monopoly of funding for ALL births in this country, and there is no sign that that�s about to change. The hospitals can offer homebirth now if they want to. In the light of all the evidence (and NMAP has put it out there for all to see) it�s only reasonable that hospitals will see the homebirth option as attractive for the service as well as the women.
Maternity Coalition is about mothers and midwives working together for better maternity care (that�s a long way from the ideal, but it�s pointing in the right direction). We support women�s choice and access. Choice of model of care and provider of that care, and access to midwifery models of care and birth in the home or hospital. In supporting choice, we also support a woman�s right to choose the fully medical models of care. Australian maternity services need total reform, and that�s what we are trying to bring about. Until that reform has been achieved we really can�t afford to be idealistic about demanding that all midwifery be offered outside the acute (hospital) setting, when that�s where the money goes, that�s where the bulk of the workforce is, and that�s where the woman look for their
care.
Joy Johnston
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