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FYI
A tibetan story from 2003 of rural birth from
china's perspective. It is about as valid as their take on the 'peaceful
takeover of tibet in 1951' to claim women should birth in hospitals for
safety. I guess the payment scheme to promote removal to birth in
hospitals - will in part win at the end of the day. And is reminise
of what so many govt's do to herd 'women' into line - furthering their
agenda to oppress and conquer. Having just celebrated world health day -
one does wonder what govt's are really doing to make every mother and child
count...
For me it is crystal clear from the weekend
australian (battlefield birth) that in oz we cannot afford to loose the campaign
for the right of women to birth with midwives, in the setting of their choice,
close to their loved ones and community - fully funded by govts across the
nation.
It is going to probably get tougher in some ways
from now on as the ones who wish to keep us oppressed and conquered ( the
majority of govts/medicos etc) will fight tooth and nail to keep the norm.
And with the federal coalition taking over the senate from july 1 - things will
get tougher. You don't need to look any further than donations at
election time to see the roots of the rot eg: www.democracy4sale.org
Across the globe, it is vital that we all stand
united and support the hard work of our national and global consumer and
midwifery bodies to reclaim our right to birth, parent and live as women, free
from oppressive regimes, famine, war and the like.
In Australia - the women (and men, yes there are a
few) who campaign for all women (in particlular the non-for-profit groups like
MC) are struggling to do their unpaid work, be mothers and mother to be, and
save our maternity services in areas being eroded and expand on the minimal
services we do have.
Many of you may or may not know that some of our
campaigners have spent thousands of dollars of their own money to do this work
over the past few years.
In recognition of the work of these women & men
- I ask that you all support their work in the myriad of ways this can be
done. It could be an email saying thank you, it could be an offer to cook
a meal for their family, or to assist with child care. It could be a paid
invitation to speak at an area health service or conference. These
women & men need our support and if possible our funds. In
the year of world health day 'make every mother and child count' - it is
essential that we support the campaigners who are working tirelessly to acheive
this in australia. And who normally rely on memberships and occassionally small
grants to survive.
If every person on this list considered a
reasonable donation to the national consumer groups Maternity Coalition or
Homebirth Australia - between World Health Day (April 7 2005) and International
Midwives Day (May 5 2005) - this would provide some of the much needed
assistance to maintain the energy of the campaign.
By way of clarification - these are my personal
thoughts and aspirations. At a time when it is going to be a given that
many campaigners will feel the enormous pressure of govt and medico oppression
that we minimise the inevitable 'burnout' and at least try to prevent this from
occurring too harshly. We must afterall
recognise and respond to the need to - care for the carers - and truly make
every mother & child count.
Sally-Anne (Brown)
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