The College Responds

Well, I asked where the response was from our college: It was there, out there, but hidden away on back pages, not making it to the internet lists of headlines, certainly not on the fromt pages of our papers. I know not many people read here, but maybe, somehow, this will help to spread the word.

The following media releases are a good start:
Midwifery care is safe
Dominion Post Rebuttal
Sally speaks


But are they enough? No, because they are not seen, except by us, and our supporters: How do we get the media to accept that we are safe, and reasonable, and responsible professional practitioners? We are not crazy hipy's attending births in secret and fear: Midwives globally are not the witches and baby killers we are made out to be. Not here, not in America, not in the UK (I would link to Agatha, but she has been chased out of blogging, by breaking the "rules" which say you can't mention a problem in public without getting shut down! NOTE: Agathat did not break any rules, but readers will know that her blog has gone. This is because she was accused of breaching the same rules referred to in the linked article. I read her blog avidly, and did not see her bringing the profession into disrepute, or being unprofessional, nor breaching patient rights: she just argued for change. Apparently, censorship is OK if you are the NMC, regardless of your members opinions!) any of the places we are still fighting to be treated as normal professional human beings!

Karen says in her article in yesterdays dominion post: We are saying enough is enough.

We support and believe in women's right to seek an investigation into events, and answers to their questions, but that DOES NOT make all midwives answerable for the actions of one. We do not accept that this should be done through the media in a blatant show of sensationalism not applied to any other medical dispute. We say NO to the idea that a midwife be tried in the media, instead of through the appropriate and LEGAL process developed by government for ALL health care practitioners to be mediated. We will NOT be accused of being unsafe and dangerous by people with no knowledge or basic understanding of who we are, what our job is and what our training entails.

Midwives of the world, we face the same fights: It comes in different forms, but the fight is the same. And we fight it because we dare to be women, working mainly for and with other women. Let's do this together! what works for one, can be held up to all as an example... and at the end of the day, midwifery improves outcomes and saves lives. Lets shout that to the rooftops, as loud as we can.

Tagged

My big sister, Denise tagged me with the following assignment:
1. Write the title to your own memoir using SIX words.
2. Post it on your blog.
3. Link to the person that tagged you.
4. Tag 5 more blogs.


She had a very cool and pretty image to go with her title, but I am not that clever (well, I am clever, but not having an artistic bone in my body, cause she got them all, I have to make do with merely writing!)

so, what would I call my memoir?

"why I never travelled the world"


If you are around and have the time, I tag

Kristina at Red spiral
Agatha
My very special friend the Jewish midwife
Pamela
Barb

and now the chance to stand up.....

Already, we are in the news again: with the call that we must Let the Babies Live and the suggestion that us midwives should be better trained and supervised as Baby's death was avoidable. Now. I do not know the details of this case.... It doesn't look great, does it, from reading those two articles? But, mystery recently qualified independent midwife, whether you were right or wrong, my thoughts are with you. If you need words of support and care, find them here. As you walk into the fire (along with your "midwife supervisor" whatever that may be), know that I am walking along beside you, in spirit if not in body.

So, the next question.... why aren't midwives fighting back in the papers? Why aren't we pointing out that we are over worked, under paid, and often under supported? When the senior and junior doctors strike, who supports the labouring women? US. When the cleaners are on strike, who picks up the slack on maternity? US. Are we thanked for this? No. Are we paid for this? No. Are we given annual pay reviews, and offered what we are worth? No. Do we do what we do because we love it? Yes. Otherwise, Goddess knows, we wouldn't do it for the money or the glory!

As Karen Guilliland said in this months Midwifery news, midwifery issues are global, and women who are cared for by midwives have better outcomes: So why WHENEVER anything goes wrong, is it always us "dangerous" midwives being hauled over the coals? Why when doctors stuff up (and we all know they do) do they come out of it unscathed, unphotographed, and certainly unjudged? Why do we say "well, they are only human, they can't be perfect, they do their best" when doctors err, but mount a full scale witch hunt against ALL midwives if a midwife makes an error?

Why are we held to a higher standard? why must we be perfect, to prove our right to do what we have ALWAYS done, care for women? Sometimes, awful things happen. sometimes, babies die. sometimes, mothers die. sometimes, people get sick, or hurt and sometimes we can't fix that. But most of the time, we get it right. Most of the time, we improve the outcomes. Most of the time, we FIX problems. When does that get to be front page news? When do we MAKE that front page news?