Re: [ozmidwifery] Childbirth Education classes

Sun, 29 May 2005 15:59:34 -0700

 Dear Sue and others
Another way to deal with the conflicts is to give the women information about other consumer groups or resources where they can find access to other information or options.
 
 
Being in Perth you can let them know about the Resource centres of Community Midwifery WA which are staffed by midwives and have wealth of different resources the women can choose
Denise Hynd
 
"Let us support one another, not just in philosophy but in action, for the sake of freedom for all women to choose exactly how and by whom, if by anyone, our bodies will be handled."
 
— Linda Hes
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 1:47 PM
Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] Childbirth Education classes

I agree wholeheartedly with Nicole's post. It is very hard to give a balanced view when one knows that we are working within an obstetric model and the intervention rates that come with it.
We try hard to instill the ideal of natural birth but are aware of the risk of setting the women up for feelings of failure if we emphasise this and ignore the 'other' stuff.
Even women who are booked for elective C/S come to classes and we have a duty to inform them too.
Also inherent is the time factor - how much can you reasonably get across within the time allocated to classes.
Sue 
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"
Edmund Burke
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2005 3:08 PM
Subject: RE: [ozmidwifery] Childbirth Education classes

Hi All,
 
I have worked as a child birth educator in a hospital which has fairly comparable intervention rates  to other public hospitals in Victoria. However, to me we have a lot of unnecessary intervention, particularly induction of labour, and the cascade of intervention that then sometimes occurs.
 
The quandary for a CBE in this environment is: do you educate for the ideal, or the reality of the environment that the women will birth in? If you tell them the reality, you would sit them in a circle of ten women and say only four of you are going to have a birth without intervention. What do you want to know to help you cope with a birth with intervention? Or do you teach them all natural, and know that many of them are going to be devastated by the reality of the actual birth that happens? Their partners too. It's a tough one. I struggled with it, because I also worked in the system. The women who advocate for themselves, or the midwives who do so, have to be very strong. Ultimately the power rests with the obstetricians. There are no alternative employers of midwives in my town. When teaching CBE classes I compromised, and taught about both. And ensured that the realities of the different interventions were discussed, so that women did not think that C/S is comparable to vaginal birth and so on.
 
I can imagine a CBE working in the private system would be faced with even higher intervention rates. The other problem is having obstetricians coming after you for teaching THEIR women about things they would prefer they did not know.
 
I think changes need to occur across the whole system, starting with midwife led care. It would be great if midwives could do the education for the women for whom they would be providing birthing care. The intervention rates would plummet, and education about intervention in birth could be made optional, and therefore available for those who want to know absolutely everything, or for those for whom intervention may be more likely.Otherwise a midwife could set the scene for the ways she has learnt to practice in birthing to maximise women's chance of a positive  and optimal birth experience.
 
I do think child birth education today is a reflection of our system. I also think CBE's try very hard to do their best for women and their support people. They are stuck in the middle of a far from ideal situation.
 
Nicole Carver.

[Nicole Carver]  -----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of Dean & Jo
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2005 2:43 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [ozmidwifery] Childbirth Education classes

I feel there needs to be legislation to bring cbe OUT of the institutions to the community.  In SA we are sooooo proud of our state wide Perinatal guidelines, there is probable cause to push the need for education to be statewide also.  We need the government to push safe and happy birthing by promoting education that impacts these things.  And then the little piggies can fly

 

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Diane Gardner
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2005 1:57 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [ozmidwifery] Childbirth Education classes

 

Wow am I steamed! I've just had a woman ring me in an absolute mess. She attended the Prenatal classes run by St Vincents Private just recently and and is scared out of her wits. She said she had been so excited and looking forward to birthing her baby until she attended the classes. She said they fed in negative, pain, complications and drugs!

 

What is going on here? We wonder why women go into labour in a hospital screaming and begging for drugs. Just what sort of programming are these classes installing into women and taking away their ability to trust their bodies for birth. How long do we have to put up with this and how much worse is it going to get before the hospital Boards GET it or is the money rewards for doing all this more important than birth.

 

Sorry to vent here SO loudly but I'm getting so fed up with this same old story. Where does one have to start to have these classes brought back to the real world and some sensible and simple tools for birth!  Sheesh

 

Breathing and counting to 10.......20.........30 grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

 

Diane

 

 


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