Hello Ricardo, Terrific to hear from you and to have you on the list. I hope you'll find the midwifery scene in Austrlaia interesting to read about.
As you know, I've been able to have a first hand look at what is happening in Brasil and I am very excited about the work of REHUNA. Can I just say that I think REHUNA should be careful of the "doula" phenomenon? Rather than spending time on training a new team of people as doulas, why not put your energies into re-shaping the thinking and up-skilling the nurses you already have working in maternity and at the same time, open your labour wards to family and friends of the labouring woman? The work of Klaus and Kennell in the 1980's showed that in order to improve outcomes for labouring women all that was needed was to provide a companion for her, and one with no training was just as good as one with training. I've looked at birth in other parts of the world similar to yours and still think that the first and easiest step to take is to find a way to enable the woman to have her sister/mother/best friend with her during labour and birth. This is cheap, easy, woman friendly and easy to implement. I hope to be able to get back to Brasil to do some more workshops for your nurses on the basics of being "with women". In the meantime, I have written a Diary entry http://www.birthinternational.com/diary/index.html on doulas that you might like to read. A bit controversial but I think these things need to be said. Look forward to seeing you again! Andrea At 04:29 6/09/2002, Ricardo Herbert Jones wrote: >Hello everybody: > >My name is Ricardo Herbert Jones >I am an obstetrician from Brasil, and had the pleasure of meeting Andrea >Robertson this year in a Congress about Humanization of Childbirth in São >Paulo, Brasil. >As an obstetrician I would like to share experiences with midwives and >doulas all around the world, because I think that humanization of birth is >an issue that has to do with every single person in this planet. Even thou >only women deliver babies (yet - who knows where the tecnocratic paradygm >will takes us?) all of us were once born, and lived during a limited time >in a woman´s womb. Were we rescued from there by doctors and eletronic >devices or were we cherished by mom´s tender body till we entered this >world? These are different ways of looking to the same event. As I grew >old (I am 43 now, and work with births from 20 years) I learned that women >shall be treated with caress and gentleness. Birth in our tecnocratic >society is seen as a mechanic phenomenon, and doctors usually see their >patients as objects, and not as persons and subjects. That´s a terrible >thing, because it´s a human´s right problem. >I am one of the leaders of Rehuna (Humanization of Childbirth Network - >Brasil) and our struggle now is to empower women in their decisions about >chilbirth and force the government area to humanize the assistance to >women in the public hospitals. The first step is a doula project, called >"Friends in Light", to graduate doulas and doula trainners in Rio de Janeiro. >Ok, as u can see my english is not quite well, and I love to talk too much... >Hope I can get good advices from you all. > >Ricardo Herbert Jones >Ob/Gyn and Homeopath >Porto Alegre - Brasil > >__________________________________________________________________ >Ricardo Herbert Jones >Ric >ICQ#: 1640612 >Current ICQ status: 249cee.jpg >( Home Tel#: 55 51 9981 0445 >( Work Tel#: 55 51 9981 0445 >7 Fax#: Ask me >+ <http://wwp.icq.com/1640612>More ways to contact me >i <http://web.icq.com/whitepages/about_me?Uin=1640612>See more about me: >__________________________________________________________________ >
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----- Andrea Robertson Birth International * ACE Graphics * Associates in Childbirth Education e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: www.birthinternational.com
