----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2004 9:54
AM
Subject: [ozmidwifery] midwives &
birth
In the Sheila Kitzinger link, this was in one of the news articles.
Pertinent to our discussion?? "Jo Revill highlighted the closure
of small midwife-led units where women are more likely to have continuity of
care, and the removal of staff from them to large hospitals �There is now a
body of research which shows that pregnant women who have access to the same
midwife throughout their pregnancy are less likely to need a Caesarean�. Linda
Phipps, The National Childbirth Trust Chief Executive, says that birth in a
small unit is �just as safe, if not safer, than in a large hospital. There are
fewer interventions, and the women themselves enjoy more continuity of care.�
The article continues: �Childbirth Guru Sheila Kitzinger, who has tried to
help many women traumatised by the birth of their children, argues that,
when the contact with the professionals is fragmented, the entire
birth becomes inherently less safe.
`Everything depends on the people who
help and the quality of their relationship with the mother,'
she
wrote recently. ( My emphasis)
`Doctors, and above all midwives,
accompany women through a major life transition. How they do this affects the
way a mother feels about herself, her baby and her partner for long after the
event. That is what makes women who are disempowered in birth, and distressed
afterwards, feel so cheated. Personal care is not a luxury; it is vital for
safety.'�
