Belinda
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I have not felt personally criticized as a hospital midwife, I also feel
very strongly about the problems women face when entering hospital
systems for birth care.
I guess i get defensive at times however, as I think others have, when
hospital midwives are set up as the polemic opposites of homebirth based
ones. I know there are so many instances of hospital midwives providing
anything but women centered care, the system is fraught with midwifery
apathy as much as womens - not so much apathy but lack of knowledge or
trust in getting care that centers on their own needs. The problem is,
the birth activists, the women fighting these systems of
instiutionalsied abuse of women, the women putting their own passions
and lives on the line are not always community based, they are often
hospital based midwives struggling feeling isolated and disrespected.
The problem is also the lack of support one gets from women or positive
birth that you can enjoy in the home setting.
I am lucky enough to experience the joy of homebirth and the
satisfaction of a joyful hospital birth. It is the women in hospitals
who are (most often) being traumatized without often perceiving that as
being related to their birth experiences. It is from this base that I
try to circumvent or limit the processes that lead to such traumas and
end up being marginalsied, abused etc in this process and this is by
other midwives and doctors.
I believe it is good for us to air our differences and lament the
problems - aiming to change them or find ways to make birth better
For the hospital midwives who dont feel they will be supported on this
list I do not believe that this will be the case, this list often
results in heated and passionate debates which is /all/ good, we are
passionate people working in difficult circumstances, everyone has a
right to believe what they believe but not everyone has to agree, I
think we mostly end up in respectful debate people just sometimes take
things personally because we are so used to getting defensive- our
hackles rise quickly
