I am now back on line. This may be a little late, but thanks for the magazines return. I have plenty more if you wish to borrow them.
Chantel and Lewis had a little boy, 05.15am Sunday morning and although I was delighted for them I was so sorry to miss the auction. Never mind, there's always next year.
Re your friend. Can you ask her if she has explored all her options. Has she accessed any of the C/S support groups vis the internet? Has she asked her obstetrician what hhis/her VBAC success rate is? Would she care to talk to someone who has had a vaginal birth after previous C/S for placenta previa (Jodie Dearsley just did!) I'm sure Jodie would be happy to talk to your friend.
Jodie's phone number is 9527 3736. Perhaps you could invite her to talk at the next support group meeting and invite your friend along?
Hope all is well with you and yours. Catch up soon I hope.
Regards
Jan
PS Chantel and Lewis got their camping trip in to Greenpatch before the baby came. They LOVED it and bought back some great pictures. Especially loved the birds joining them for meals and the kangaroos hopping around them. Chantel had never seen a kangaroo before.
On Wednesday, November 12, 2003, at 08:00 PM, Rob and Claire Leslie-Carter wrote:
I have a question for all you wise women.
A friend of mine is now pregnant with her second child, the first born by c-section due to placenta praevia (sp?). She is mostly decided to try for a VBAC but not 100%. After all our recent talk about caesarians etc. I think she is a prime candidate for a failed VBAC. However I don't really know what to say to her. I think she would be better off finding an independent midwife, but that is so far away from her mind set. There is a lot in what Sonia was saying about the perceived inferiority of midwife led care, I don't know if it would be possible for her to shift to the idea of a midwife. She is complaining about her ob's gap (which I think is some sort of extra payment (I'm English it's all a mystery to me)) but still doesn't even think about a midwife.
All I'm asking is is there anything I can do or say? I will just feel so bad if she has a horrendous time which possibly could have been avoided. What can we learn from all these horror stories to help other women?
Claire Saxby
From: "Wayne and Caroline McCullough" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [ozmidwifery] Advise, encouragement, support (long) Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 08:46:07 +1000
Sonia,
Thank you for your beautiful words.. I have tears in my eyes. You are
coming to terms with something so monumental... A year or so ago that
was me... I went from the "private/obstetric" mindset about birth to the
"midwife" mindset but was still so influenced by all the things you
mention that I still had my own obstetrician even though I'd hired a
private midwife. Now I know that I would do things very differently next
time.... It is a hard journey to be on and you are doing so amazingly. I
send you strength and blessings and would like your permission to pass
this message on to others who may need to read it too.
Love Cas.
Cas McCullough [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.casmccullough.com
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of *G and S* Sent: Tuesday, 11 November 2003 6:11 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [ozmidwifery] Advise, encouragement, support (long)
Jodie Miller wrote:
" I honestly don't think many birthing women really know what midwives can do for them. "
Hi all (Yeah, I'm still around),
I absolutely agree with Jodie's statement.
Before I birthed my fourth babe I was always of the understanding that
to be in the very best of care meant that you had to be looked after by
an obstetrician. Anything less was inferior care or not ideal. To be
looked after by a midwife, in the public system ie Midwive's Clinic
suggested lower socio-economic status and desperation.
This still appears to be the pervasive thinking among the many women that I know.
My 4th babe was a 'public babe' as I was caught out between health
insurances when I became pregnant. That whole pregnancy was spent at my
local hospital's mw's clinic....or so it seemed. I would regularly wait
for hours to be seen by a mw and then in turn by a stressed out RMO. And
as I always had my three children under seven with me, I was
consistently hypertensive. (suprise,suprise)
It was so very easy to see the frustration that other women attending
the clinic were feeling. And perhaps in a more sublte way, so too did I
see the immense frustration of the midwives who tried to do their job
under difficult circumstances.
At the end of this horrible pregnancy came a difficult induction (at the
hands of one incredibly arrogant ob) due to hypertension.
HOWEVER, once that was over my labor was overseen by a very gentle and
amazingly astute midwife. (Hi Nola!!)
This was the first and only birth I have had without an ob present. It
was by far the most peaceful, gentle, beautiful birth that I have
experienced. My hypertension slipped away and was no longer problematic
and I was treated with dignity.
With my 5th pregnancy I was SO ready to be looked after by a mw. But
the prospect of dealing with 'The Clinic' was so off-putting that I went
private with an obstetrician. And while I wasn't hypertensive throughout
my pregnancy and prenat. visits were hassle free, there still was a
disatrous consequence to be paid later on during my unnecessary (?)
cesarean section.
Upon reflection:
I wish that I had been given the option of a one-on-one mw service. I
wish that I had known that this type of service existed. I wish that
women could be better educated about the services available to them
BEFORE they are pregnant. I wish that I had realised that when I hired
an ob/gyn I was actually hiring a surgeon. I wish that midwifery as a
whole could be widely promoted as a valid, obstetric profession, one to
which vulnerable women can safely entrust their care. I also wish that
there will soon be total reform in the Public Maternal Health system.
Women should always be treated with dignity and be made to feel that
they are more than just a pregnant chunk of flesh.
If only I could have my time again.........
Sonia W.
PS. I hope that I haven't been too high-handed in posting this and that
I haven't offended.
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