Re: [ozmidwifery] Birth Attendant / Doula - Hunter Valley Area

[diane]

Title: Re: [ozmidwifery] Birth Attendant / Doula - Hunter Valley Area

Justine, Keep flicking that light switch!!! Its getting just a little brighter every day (although there does seem to be the occasional blackout!). I find the support and demands from the educated consumers to be the everyday reminder that I am in no way the "expert" but the more I do to facilitate natural birth, the more opportunity there is for a woman to tell her good birth story in that sea of horror stories.   I had a young woman book in the other day , first baby, well healthy educated young woman. She was considering booking at Gosford rather than Wyong, so the 'options' of epidural etc were available "just in case". Her mum was with her, I often ask about the mother's births to assess what degree of support and influence they have. Mum had four fast natural births, and the eldest daughter recently had a fast natural birth. I found it so sad that this young woman had these positive experiences, yet was yielding to the popular hysteria that surrounds birth. The good news is, that she decided to book for our low risk unit after all. What can we do to alleviate this unfounded fear???   Justine, you and the other active consumers are a BIG part of this. Keep up the good work, and good luck with the butt, mine only grows!!   Di. ----- Original Message ----- From: Justine Caines To: OzMid List Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 10:22 PM Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] Birth Attendant / Doula - Hunter Valley Area Kelly is she in contact with the local birth support group? It's pretty busy. No – she’s quite mainstream and only knows about birth attendants from what I have on my site – since my good friend and site admin had her VBAC this weekend I think this has gotten her thinking about it more seriously as she’s in her second trimester now – so she is at the stages of asking stacks of those questions you always get – will they take over from the husband, will I cope with a stranger etc – so will take someone gentle to gain her confidence (personality wise and give her confidence in her body too) with a mainstream understanding. She’s a gorgeous person though, has been very supportive of my site for a long time. I am sure you didn’t mean it Kelly but what does the above say?  That women wanting/supporting  gentle, natural birth are weirdos and that c/s and all the trauma associated with it (in many cases - esp the unnecessary ones) is mainstream and a less confronting option!?? What I understand about the mainstream is it is on the whole a very damaged and broken system.  Whilst a woman must decide what is right and safe for her, any other reading of the current system is misleading. I know that some of us are considered pretty radical for our upfront choices and unwavering support of women to choose where and with whom they give birth.  Those of us that choose the path less travelled often pay for it with our families, friends and acquaintances. It is really tiring to be labelled a freak. Although I have 6 delicious birth experiences that quickly remind me of the reality. I must say this pervading culture of women who would spend more time researching buying an electrical product than they would bringing another life into the world is really wearing. Women  are constantly conned and often not supported, we all know that.  While we work to change this I think we also need to bring the responsibility back to women, and in doing that more women need to at least be aware of women like me that work their but off  (well it would be nice if I lost my but in the process!!) to enable a choice for them when the light bulb finally switches on... I salute you for what you are doing.  But you are in a position to help the light switch on, give women the information, let them know groups like Maternity Coalition exist, you may be surprised with women’s uptake toward the non-mainstream!!! In solidarity Justine