Thursday, January 28, 2010

MOTHERBABY SUPPORT GROUP



Mothers with babies in their first year,
and pregnant women
are invited to join our 


Motherbaby Support Group




The group meets fortnightly through the school term, providing

· Mother to mother peer support

· interactive adult learning for mothers,
with midwives, in a setting that
promotes and protects wellness in birth and
mothering

· responsiveness to issues raised
and experiences encountered, and much more




For more information, call Joy Johnston
04111 90448 - 03 9808 9614
or email joy@aitex.com.au



http://privatemidwiferyservices.blogspot.com/


http://villagemidwife.blogspot.com/








Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Birth and Breastfeeding


My holiday reading this year has been Michel Odent's Birth and Breastfeeding (First published in French 1990, in English 2003, Reprinted 2007).
Not that I have had many days to devote to reading!


Dr Odent's writings have been familiar terrain for me for many years, and I am indebted to this man for his persistent efforts to describe and explain the natural physiological processes in everything to do with childbearing.  The subject keeps me attentive for new information, as well as on the lookout for anything I find implausable, and need to think more critically about. I do not want to be a gullible 'true believer' in my understanding of these topics.  Birth and Breastfeeding did not disappoint.

There are several questions posed in a postscript, and I copy three of them here for further refection:
  • What if maternal qualities become the main criterion for the selection of aspiring midwives?  The need to feel safe without feeling observed or judged is satisfied by the proximity of a mother-figure.
  • What if obstetrics becomes a medical discipline at the service of women and midwives?
  • What if the Caesarean section recovers its status of a wonderful rescue operation, while obstetric forceps find their place only in the museums?

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

continuing the countdown

The context of writing this post is that it's hot outside. Melbourne has sweltered yesterday and last night, and I am thankful for air conditioners in houses and cars. My thoughts go out to all mothers with new babies.

I have no new news since my last entry on this blog.

A couple of draft documents that will have an impact on the way midwives practise privately after 1 July this year have been circulated, and I am doing what I can to prepare responses. Other midwives and birth activists are also committing precious time to writing responses.


The most significant matter at the moment (from where I sit) is the exemption of birth from indemnity insurance. See the MiPP blog for the current news.

The big question is, Which midwives will be allowed to access the exemption from indemnity insurance?



The draft framework document once again raises the idea of mandatory
". evidence of formal arrangements for professional and medical backup as demonstrated by signed letter from collaboration partners"

This requirement itself would exclude most midwives from access to the exemption, unless the government also provided, at considerable cost, a bureaucratic system that established a process to tick the box - a silly notion. Even though I respect and from time to time work with various obstetricians, I don't have obstetricians who I could ask to give me a signed letter of collaboration. I and others will be arguing this in our submissions to the inquiry, and we believe we can use a letter from Health Minister Roxon in preventing this particular requirement from being adopted into regulatory processes.

I believe every midwife should be free to choose to work in a private, self employed capacity, practising midwifery. Therefore every midwife should be able to claim the exemption from indemnity insurance for attending birth, either in the woman's home or in hospital. Midwifery is a discreet scope of practice that limits what a midwife can, and cannot do.

Secondary regulation, which this draft framework is, can not be used to replace or preempt the basic regulation of the midwifery profession. There can be only one gatekeeper into the midwifery profession in a jurisdiction, and the body with that responsibility is the regulatory Board, which has the authority to investigate, take disciplinary action, and in extreme cases, remove or restrict the practice of a midwife. This grave responsibility cannot be delegated to insurance providers or other regulatory panels.

I think we, independent midwives, have to approach this framework as positively as we can. We are the privately practising midwives of Australia; we are legally registered to practise midwifery. We have already argued to the Health Minister and the Senate hearing why it is unreasonable to mandate the signed collaborative agreement, and those arguments, which appear to have achieved some significant changes, can be aired again. Midwives are able to produce evidence of collaborative practice (however it is defined). We draw the line on having double jeopardy at the hands of a competing profession, obstricians.


There continues to be a degree of uncertainty about how private midwifery will look after 1 July, when the government's reforms will come into effect. I am hopeful that there will continue to be a place for every midwife to attend women who choose their care, whether it's through publicly funded programs or privately.