[ozmidwifery] "FRIENDS" birth!

[James & Stephanie Fairbairn]

ANyone catch the last friends episode last night?? I suppose on the upside (considering most TV shows have appauling records of documenting birth!) - at least she: - was in labbour for more than 5 minutes - the birth was not dramatically inthe car/ corridor/ etc -  appeared to have no pain relief or monitoring!!?? -  was showing emotions in labour which are common eg:self doubt at the end - It was an undiagnosed breech - and was NOT rushed to theatre for a C/S! - OK it wasn't actually active birth but at least she wasn't flat on her back for the 2nd stage and appeared to be giving it some wellie!! (although would have probably had difficulty getting a breech out from that angle!)   All very hilarious stuff - but am sure this has had a far more positive impact on the viewing public of how real births do happen than most of the media induced images. There was a MIDIRS review not so long ago (sorry can't remember) that examined media images of birth and breastfeeding and sure enough they came off pretty poorly as role models - Maybe influening the media/fictional type of imaging has more impact on the generl public than most campagins and rallies will ever have?! If pop stars (posh etc) have their births similarly scrutinised by fans - maybe manipulating media images with midwifery input / pressure can produce fictional role models with just as much clout as the real ones!! Just a thought! Steph.