Dear all, my experience is that the only midwifery model in SA is that belonging to our independant midwives. We have some excellent midwives working within the medical model and they are by no doubt being the best midwife they can be, but at the end of the day it is still the hospital and the doctors that call the shots. One of our level 3 hospitals(we have 2) lost VBAC in the birth centre purely because one consultant refused to support it. The VBAC rates have fallen drastically and this is accepted by those in control at the expense of women and those wishing to support them, despite intense lobbying for its return. I have to question how true midwifery care can work from a hospital without the full support of doctors and midwives accepting this model. I am currently reading Ina May's "Guide to Childbirth" and it contains some wonderfully staggering statistics of Midwifery care. Vrouw Schrader practiced in the Netherlands from 1693 until 1745 attending 3,017 births. Spontaneous birth took place in 94% of cases. There were just 14 maternal deaths for which she had direct responsibility (4.6 in one thousand births). There were 10 cases of placenta previa, with only two maternal deaths. If this is what you can do without formal education and medical intervention then she is a woman to be admired.
Is a compromised model of care enough? Many women will be better off than whats on offer now, but it still isnt the very best that they can have. "Women are not dying because of disease we cannot treat. They are dying because societies have yet to make the decision that their lives are worth saving" - Mahmoud Fathalla -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
