Re: [ozmidwifery] Midwifery-led units - warning, a bit of a rave!

[wump fish]

I think the 'baby friendly initiative' doesn't take into consideration the 
artificial environment women find themselves in whilst trying to adapt to 
motherhood. In other cultures, and not so long ago here, women would have 
birthed at home supported by other women (family and friends). They would 
have been surrounded by supporter who knew them. These supporters would have 
cared for them and their baby in a familiar environment and facilitated 
their adaption to motherhood.

Now they are on hospital ward with all the noise, lack of privacy + isolated 
from their support people (even their partners). Often recovering from a 
'medical birth'. They are awake all day with comings and goings (visitors, 
people emptying bins, mw doing obs). Then we expect them to deal with the 
natural instinct of a baby who wants to breastfeed all night. I have sat 
with too many exhausted, weeping women to enforce rooming-in. I explain the 
baby's behaviour, and that it is normal. Then provide coping strategies. 
Starting with sleeping with baby in bed suckling and last on the list is: I 
can take your baby and settle him, but will bring him back when he needs 
food, because only you can feed him. I feel that if a woman is in a 
hospital, the mws should take on the role of her family and settle the baby 
for her if she wants us to. The difference a straight 3-4 hours sleep can 
make to womens ability to cope is sometimes hugh.

From personal experience, I feel that having no rest or break in hospital 
with my first significantly compromised my adaption to motherhood - I was 
totally exhausted. It was one of the main reasons I had my second at home. I 
could sleep in my own bed with my baby and husband at night, and in the day 
family would care for her whilst I had a nap.

If we are going to be truely 'baby friendly' we need to move birth back into 
the family environment.

Rachel





From: JoFromOz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au
To: ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au
Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] Midwifery-led units - warning, a bit of a rave!
Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:34:42 +0800

Tania Smallwood wrote:

What an interesting and thought provoking conversation...I have always 
felt
too that there must be a middle ground, but surely, we need to be 
adequately
and realistically preparing women for what they will face when they get
home.  A new mother expects to be tired, and yes, we can try in hospital 
to
give them time to rest, but taking a baby to the nursery, bottle feeding 
it,
and letting mothers sleep all night until the day of discharge, (which is
what I saw happen in my midwifery training, only a few years ago) is 
surely
a recipe for disaster.  Reality has to hit eventually, surely it's better 
to
happen with the support of midwives during those first few days, so some
strategies can be made to cope with excessive feeding, not settling etc,
rather than finding out on the first night home that your baby doesn't
actually sleep all night!

I'm not sure I agree that we need to be 'prioritising' the mothers need 
for
rest over the babies need for attention, I think it is our job as midwives
to help the new family adjust to the needs of the new baby, to be able to
recognize the need for rest, and then to gain the skills and strategies to
be able to achieve that rest, while adjusting to all the demands of new
parenting. So it is a juggling act, but shouldn't we be trying to arm 
women
and couples with ways of dealing with it, rather than taking away the
'problem' and creating a false sense of reality?

I think 'woman friendly' needs to be seen in a realistic light, we are 
there
to help the women in their early mothering, this for me, does not include
taking over part of that mothering, or protecting her from the realities 
she
will face only too soon, without the safety net of midwifery staff on tap.

Just my thoughts...

Tania

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of brendamanning
Sent: Wednesday, 21 September 2005 4:23 PM
To: ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au
Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] Midwifery-led units - warning, a bit of a rave!

Kate,

Must admit I also promote 'women friendly' care, not including some of the 
things your colleague does, but if we don't care for the mothers how can 
we expect them to nurture their babies??
They need nurturing too, mothers need mothering & baby-friendly can be 
very hard on the women. I feel that his is where the term 'breast-feeding 
nazi' originated, not prioritising the maternal need for rest & 
recovery/convalescence over the obsession with infant attention.

Must be a happy medium !

BM
----- Original Message ----- From: "Kate &/or Nick" 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au>
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2005 3:22 PM
Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] Midwifery-led units - warning, a bit of a rave!




----- >>how about the 'woman friendly birth centre'?

There's a lot of different definitions of that one. Just had a placement
with a m/w who promoted woman-friendly over baby-friendly. Her idea of 
w-f
was to have longer hospital stays, baby in nursery, bottlefed until 
woman's
milk comes in. She theorised that it would give mother a chance to sleep,
recover from the birth, and remove the stress of a hungry baby unable to
feed.

Just doesn't gel to me.

Kate

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I agree, Tania.  Antenatally, the women need to focus more on parenting and 
what to expect there, rather than just the labour and birth.  It's just not 
normal to have a mother and baby separated just so Mum can get some sleep.  
If she was meant to have sleep, then the baby would be asleep.  This is 
where the midwives need to be woman-friendly and push this sleeptime for 
mum, and kick those pesky visitors out! Personally, I don't believe in 
visitors in maternity wards, except of course the partner and any of their 
other children.  Ok, perhaps one hour a day, max.  It's just such an 
important time for learning new skills and getting as much rest as baby 
allows.  Visitors only seem to get in the way!

JMHO :)

Jo (Mum to Will, almost 4 months old, and who is developing eczema)

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