dear all thought i'd better put my dialogue with the senator on the list since he's replied to me and you may like to hear what he has to say (or not) am not very confident with speaking in any political arena but his email was a little hard to ignore and have therefore managed to get myself into an email situation with him....oh dear perhaps my reply was a tad emotional....oops....hopefully no damage has been done! warm regards to all tracy --------- Senator Alan Eggleston, How distressing to see such a narrow minded and aggressive reply so publicly displayed by someone who by the very nature of your job, professes to have the community's best interest at heart. Obviously sir, you have done little to arm yourself to adequately argue in this arena. I invite you to study this issue further, so that you may truly see the unnecessary damage the medical world often has on a birthing woman and her child - statistics would be a good place to start...to suggest that a woman has anything other than the best interest of her unborn child in mind is extremely remiss of you. Yes this IS 2001 and not 1701 - perhaps it is time to actually trust women to know their bodies and 'allow' them the simple right of CHOICE - this is not a difficult concept to grasp. Blind faith in medicalised birth is a dangerous thing Senator - there are good reasons why women avoid obstetricians and seek out the help of midwives. Sadly you display a clear lack of understanding for a situation that is incredibly important to every pregnant and future pregnant woman weather she enlists the help of a midwife or not. Sincerely Tracy Churchward ------ to which he replied...... ------ >From: "Eggleston, Alan (Senator)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: 'tracy churchward' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: RE: midwives >Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 13:21:51 +1000 > >The point I sought to make was that the world has changed and there is now a >much higher level of expectation about the outcome in all areas of medicine >, Obstetrics included . There has been an equal rise in the level of the >acceptable level of "duty of care" by the regulators which include the >insurance industry. Undoubtable in this matter the insurance industry has >concluded that the level of risk is such that the decision was made to >discontinue midwives insurance. I also have a strong belief that the >interests of the unborn child need to be given full consideration in >decisions about where births should occur. The reference to 1701 was a >typographical error ... it was intended to be 1901.... meaning things have >changed a lot in the last 100 years. ------ to which i replied....... ------ Dear Mr Eggleston Thankyou for your prompt reply - however I still feel you have missed the point. Our point is that the insurance industry is making decisions based on gross misinformation, believing midwifery to be a highly litigious area of medicine which is quite simply untrue. Our motivation in writing to you is to request that you find a solution to this very damaging action taken by these insurance companies. Unfortunately, if you continue to ignore the extensive studies done on midwifery and its positive effects on birthing women, and fail to see women as capable adults who can make responsible decisions for their own bodies and babies then I can certainly see how it would be difficult for you to understand our position and indeed the basic argument. You are correct to observe the change that has occurred in the last 100 years and WHEN it is necessary obstetrics is a positive element of medicine. There is however, something that has NOT changed in the last 100 years that is central to this issue and that is that birth in the most part is a safe and natural occurrence in a woman's life and that women work very well in partnership with midwives. To take this choice away from women is a scandalous act of deprivation. It would be wonderful if you could understand the real issue here and help us, but your responses have clearly indicated the contrary. Sincerely Tracy Churchward -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
