Sleep deprivation v's PND

[Anne Clarke]

Dear Mary and Colleagues,
 
I will not understand those who believe that 
'pushing mother's out too early' from hospital explains the reason for sleep 
deprivation during early motherhood.  Going home from hospital early is 
definately not the reason and keeping mothers in hospital longer is definately 
not the answer.
 
Support for mothers IN THE HOME is the 
answer.  I believe that it is our present society and the pressures 
involved, including unrealistic expectations placed on new mothers and fathers 
that is the cause.  We need to get our mothers out of hospital as soon as 
possible, not keep them in longer.
 
Indeed, we as a group should lobby educators 
to include parent education and its reality of family life (including sleep 
deprivation) into our high schools, hopefully well before most men and women 
start a family, not to scare our future parents but enable them to cope with 
becoming parents.
 
It is indeed frustrating to involve politicians who 
do not consider motherhood worthy of the financial backing that it would take to 
include postnatal care ideally a similar model as in Holland, that is, a 
doula for a week or so at no cost to the mother.  She would visit 
mother's in their home not only to help them with their new baby, 
breastfeeding etc but with the household as well if needed.
 

Of course prolonged sleep deprivation is a co 
factor in postnatal depression.  It is well known that sleep deprivation is 
very effective during torture of course its going to depress you!
 
However, keeping mothers in hospital is not going 
to help this.  We as carers should encourage pregnant women and their 
families to recognise and put in place early, well before the birth, 
strategies that will enable a new familiy overcome or at least reduce the 
stressors that accompany a new and demanding baby.
 
As a childbirth educator, it still amazes me when speaking to pregnant and 
new mothers that they ask when will their baby be in some sort of routine, will 
it be by one or two weeks after birth?  Becoming a new parent is always a 
bit of a shock to the system, but it saddens me how little prepared most new 
parents are.  
 
I do hope that Dr Anderson in 'realising' that sleep deprivation is 
prevalent in new parents (he only had to ask a new mother for that enlightenment 
surely) that he has also put in place a plan to support these mothers rather 
than 'manipulating' in some way the bahaviour of the infant that is so prevalent 
in doctors and in partcularly in men as how they 'solve problems' relating to 
mothers and women in general.
 
Regards,
Anne Clarke
Brisbane
 
 
 
 
 

protest rally re insurance

[sally]

Hi all
SA is hosting the health ministers' conference on Wednesday. It will be
at the Stamford Plaza Hotel on North Terrace, opposite Parliament House.
A rally, advertised thanks to an article in the Sunday Mail, has been
organised for Friday at 12 noon outside Dean Brown's office , 11
Hindmarsh Square and this will go ahead, but we also need bodies at the
meeting on Wednesday.

It goes without saying that we need as many people as can possibly
manage to be  at both actions. I don't know yet what time the ministers
will be arriving at their meeting, will update when I find out.
Please disseminate this information far and wide.
This is our chance to seize the moment and push for birth reform!
ABC Radio National, Life Matters, also read my letter re affect of
insurance loss on women this am. Please phone talk-back radion about
this issue and get media interest up throughout the week. Media releases
will go out Wed and Fri mornings.

Yours in the revolution!
Sally Amazon
The Homebirth Network SA Inc


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B Mid Info for SA courses.

[TinaPettigrew]

Hi all B Miders, 

thought some members may interested in reading through the information on the 
SA Bachelor of Midwifery courses at Uni SA and Flinders University set to 
begin in 2002.

you can find these at:

http://www.flinders.edu.au/courses/ugrad/bachelor/bmid2.htm

and 
http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/courseinfo/DisplayCourse.asp?Course=UBMY&Stre

am=1&Division=HSC

Happy reading all.

Yours in birth
Tina Pettigrew

Aspiring B Mid Midwife
Convenor, B Mid Student Collective.
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Twenty-two years ago today.

[Jackie Mawson]

Hi all,

Just wanted to share these memories with your all. This story was
contributed for the next Birthrites magazine, and I feel so honoured to be
including it. I hope posting it will help those on the List understand the
emotional impact that caesarean birth can have on a woman, and her child.
Take care,
BB Jackie Mawson.
==

It is July 18, twenty-two years since my son was born, and the pain is
still there. 
Twenty-two years, and the tears still flow.  Today my second child, my
first son, has completed 22 years of his life.

It was going to be a hot day, I thought, as I lifted myself  from the
bed. My body was swelled from the full term baby that was in my womb.
Other than having an appointment with my doctor that morning, it seemed
like it would be an uneventful day.  I dressed myself and my 17 month old
baby girl.  We shared a breakfast, I began some laundry, and washed the
dishes before we started out for our walk to the doctor's office.

I was looking forward to this birth.  I remembered how absolutely
wonderful it felt when I pushed my new born daughter out of my womb.  It
was the most exhilarating thing I had ever experienced in my entire life.
I looked forward with anticipation to birthing this baby.   And I was
longing to hold my second baby and offer him nourishment from my own
body.

Little did I know what was in store for me that day.

As the doctor palpated the baby, I could see a look of concern on his
face.  He was an older doctor.  I wondered how many grandchildren were
blessed with this gentle, kind man as their grandfather.  I went into his
office after the exam and seated myself.  His next words were enough to
knock me on the floor.  "Kathy, your baby has been breech for some time.
I was hoping the baby would turn on its own.  Since it hasn't, and you
are so close to delivering, I'd like you to come this afternoon to the
hospital so that we can do a Cesarean section.  Your pelvis is
borderline, and I think the baby should be born surgically."  "No," I
said.  "I can't.  I'm not ready for that."  "OK," he said, "We'll
schedule for 2 days from now.  You can either have general anesthesia or
a spinal.  Which would you prefer?"  "I want to be awake for my baby's
birth," I whispered.

>From then on, I was in complete shock. I was stunned.  The rest of the
day is a blur to me.  I went home and sobbed.  I cried all day, I think.
I started feeling crampy and began feeling contractions.  I hardly paid
attention.  I was so very sad.  Soon the contractions got harder, so that
my mind finally began to pay attention to them.  I called my husband's
work to have them call him at the job he was on, and my mother-in- law to
pick up my daughter.  My husband's cousin drove me to the hospital
because for some reason, they had a hard time reaching my husband.  I
felt so alone, so isolated, so afraid.  The tears kept coming.

They began to prep me for surgery.  The woman prepping me was rattling on
about her boyfriend who was still living in the Philippines.  She was
going to call him tonight from the hospital, but I shouldn't tell anyone
because she would be in a lot of trouble if they found out.  All I cared
about right then was trying to deal with my contractions which were
getting more intense and closer.  Where is my husband?  Please, Lord,
make the baby come out right here before they get me to surgery.

The woman is wheeling my bed through the gray, cold, sterile hallways to
the elevator.  She bumps into a wall, I am contracting.  Oh, what pain!
Over the threshold--more bumping, more pain.  I catch a glimpse of my
husband.  The tears flow again as the distance between him and me
increases.  I wave goodbye as the elevator door closes.

I am now in the cold operating room.  Everyone has the same uniform on,
the same masks on their faces.  I recognize my doctor.  I sit up so they
can administer the spinal.  The needle hurts as it goes in, and next I
feel a sharp pain going down my right leg, almost like an electrical
shock, but oh, my leg hurts!  Another needle injected.  I'm so cold.
I lie down again.  I am shaking.  I can't stop.  Someone, please hold my
hand.  Someone, please, I am afraid!  And I can't stop shaking.  Please,
someone hold my hand?  Where is my husband?

My arms are outstretched.  They are tied down.  Lord, this reminds me of
how they crucified your only Son.  Thank you for your presence.  You are
my Shepherd, and you promised to be with my as I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death.  I can feel your presence, and I can sense your
sadness blended with mine, and I am comforted. You never intended for my
baby or anyone else's to be born this way, did you?

They tell me I have a baby boy.  They are holding up a baby all wrapped
up in a blanket about 15 feet away from me.  They begin to leave the room
with him.  Please, let me see him again.  They hold him up again, and
then walk out the door.  I'm still shaking.  Where is my baby?

For 5 days I can n

Any Thoughts

[Rhonda]

Hi all,
 
 reading the letter I got from the Medical 
Practitioners Board my sister noticed that they had said, "There did not appear 
to be any intent to distress you."
I am going to have fun with that as when i have the 
interview I am going to ask if intent is vital.  I am sure a doctor never 
intends to cause  harm or to kill someone but it does happen - can they 
fall back on - but I didn't intend that to happen??
How important is "Intent" and in saying this are 
they admitting that they did distress me but because they didn't mean to it is 
alright?
 
Just starting to work on what to ask about when i 
see this guy.
 
They also say The outcome was unsatsfactory to all 
parties because it was a stressful situation  Is that an admission that 
I do have a valid complaint?    They are the professionals who 
are there to make the situation as unstressful and positive as it can be - not 
cause it to be stressful - where did this stress start?  Are they saying it 
was my fault?
 
Just some points that i thought you may be able to 
help me with looking at it from a medical viewpoint.
 
Thanks
Rhonda.

play school

[Kirsten Blacker]

I'm not sure if she is still on Play School , or if she has any input, but I 
know that Noni Hazelhurst had homebirths and breastfeed at least one of her 
children for three years.
Kirsten
in USA where we don't get play schooleven on cable :-(

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Childbirth Education Awareness Week

[Julie Clarke]

Hi All
Through the Childbirth Education 
Association of NSW we have officially lodged 
Childbirth Education Awareness Week 
2001
on the NSW Dept of Health Calender 
(ph (02) 9391 9495 for your free copy)
during the week 
19th to the 24th of November 2001
to assist in the promotion and raising 
the profile of childbirth and parenting education classes and the benefits 
of attending classes.

play school web address

[Dean & Jo Bainbridge]

here is the play school web address.
cheers Jo
 
http://www.abc.net.au/children/play

Re: It's PlaySchool

[Lois Wattis]

Do we have the email/web address for Playschool so we can acknowledge this
good work?  Anybody?  Cheers, Lois

- Original Message -
From: Cheryl LHK <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2001 10:26 AM
Subject: It's PlaySchool


Congrats to the ABC.  Whilst watching PlaySchool with my toddler last week
and feeding bub, there was a section on 'looking after baby' that had five
components, one for each day of the week.

On Friday?  they showed Jenny (the baby) being bathed and at the end they
stated that her Mum would feed her.  Cynical me waited for the bottle to be
whipped out of the nappy bag and zapped! - but instead Mum pulled up the top
and proceeded to breastfeed.  The toddler was narrating through the section
- and he finished with words to the effect of "Bub likes Mum's milk, because
she's very happy after a feed"

Was very impressed.  Compared to what some of the messages TV sends out to
prospective Mum's.

Cheryl

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