Re: [ozmidwifery] midwifery heritage??

[Kirsten Blacker]

and what about all the history prior to white settlement? Kirsten ----- Original Message ----- From: Denise Hynd To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, July 25, 2004 6:49 PM Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] midwifery heritage?? Dear Dierdre The non existance of midwifery as speperate to nursing and medicine in Australia is part of the myth and misinformation.   The subjugation is only since the Nurses Acts and biulding of hospitals post WW2 and as such radiated out from them in the cities.   My mother and all her 12 cousins were born at home in the 20's and 30's with a local midwife in the western suburbs of Sydney. And though my mother had a us in hosopital she rembers midwives as those who tried to dispe her fears at Crown St in the 50's Denise Hynd   "Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world.  For, indeed, they are the only ones who ever have."  Margaret Mead ----- Original Message ----- From: Mary Murphy To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, July 25, 2004 5:03 PM Subject: [ozmidwifery] midwifery heritage?? Well, I dont know about that!  It certainly is MY heritage.  I think we have to remember that from the first boat arrived until the 2nd world war, midwives were the ones who helped women birth. After that, the doctors took over, often by stealth & outright lies, aided by the birthing women who looked forward to 10 days in bed in hospital away from the farms and all the other kids.  My Great Grandmother was a homebirth midwife before the 1st world war.  She "delivered" her last baby when she was 70yrs old. She had to be "certified" by a doctor early in the 1900's so that she could continue with her midwifery practice.   My mother (who was delivered by her grandmother) was a midwife (schooled as a maternity nurse at KEMH) and worked in a midwife run maternity hospital for an English midwife who was "the matron".  On another branch of my immediate family, there was a young woman  who arrived in Portland Victoria in the 1850's who also became one of the district midwives.  These women  had 8 children each and still continued working with birthing  women, going out in the horse & cart with one of their kids to hold the lantern if it was nioght time.  (no street lamps then).  My mother was "modern" & wasn't allowed to work after she got married.  There are often histories of midwifery in the state libraries of each capital city.  You would be surprised at how much has been recorded.  Happy hunting. MM The reason it’s probably so hard to find info is that Australia really doesn’t have much of history of midwifery as such.  Not like other cultures where midwifery has had it’s roots around for many years.  That’s also probably why we have so much difficulty convincing the public about midwifery led models of care, it just hasn’t been our heritage. Dierdre B.   -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kylie Carberry Sent: Thursday, 22 July 2004 5:01 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject:   Hi everyone, I have had no luck yet with any editors but am pushing as hard as I can and writing proposal letters from every possible angle.  As an extreme example of where we don't want to end up, I am looking at childbirth in the US.  I understand independent midwives are illegal (or were) - can anyone fill me in on this?  Also some information on the history of midwifery in Australia would be a great help.  I can find a lot on American history but not Australian. thanks everyone for your assistance cheers Kylie ½ Price FOXTEL Digital Installation On-Line Limited Offer -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit to subscribe or unsubscribe.