Excellent letter Justine, I only hope she is open to listening. Cheers Judy
--- Justine Caines <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dear All > > My response to Miranda. > > JC > xx > > > Dear Miranda > > Your headline today was perfect. It is unfortunate that the > story did not > follow. > > I am a Mother of 4, with twins due in November (yes I know > what > contraception is!). > > I live in rural NSW and have been without a maternity service > for 15 years > (long before I had my babies). > > We have no specialist Obstetrician nor a GP with obstetric > training and > probably never will. > > We do however have 3 local midwives who would provide care to > low risk women > in our local hospital. > > Currently I travel 150 kms to receive antenatal care. I have > no choice in > this care, and the conditions of the nearest unit are > pre-historic. > > Miranda I read some time ago about your experiences and > understand (correct > me if I am wrong) that you chose caesarean section. I respect > that you made > that choice. Do you believe that as a woman I too should have > choice? > Because currently like 50% of rural women I have none. > > Do you believe that the safety of both myself and baby is > important? (From > your story it would seem so) > > If you do a little more research on what is happening in the > majority of > rural units and even some on metropolitan fringes then you > would understand > that I (as a healthy woman) would be much safer in my local > community with > midwifery care (even without on site medical care). My > ³choice² now is to > dodge Kangaroos in labour (no doubt in the middle of the > night) in an area > with no mobile coverage, or risk an ambulance ride if it is > all too quick. > Why do I say risk¹ well our Ambo¹s who are amazing people are > not equipped > for a post partum haemorrhage (they do not carry syntocinon > which stops > bleeding, a drug midwives are trained to use and carry). So if > I have the > baby enroute and have a big bleed after they simply become > good drivers. > Most women do not know this and when we are often talking 2 > hour (road) > transfers (and then some!) this is very important. If I was in > my local > community in a midwifery unit a midwife would have the drug > and the required > knowledge to stop the bleeding. > > My 3rd baby was a 50 minute labour from one small pain to a > baby in arms. I > know I am much safer with midwives caring for me in a system > that already > has safe transfer arrangements for all other conditions (we > live and drive > cars and work on farms and have accidents in the country that > require > transfer). > > By the way where I live is by no means remote, It is in the > Upper Hunter > Valley, 2 and a half hours north west of Newcastle. > > Women and babies deserve better. Midwifery clinics can offer > a choice to > women that are patently unsafe now. Midwifery clinics are not > just better > than birth on the side of the road, they can safely assist the > majority of > women with healthy pregnancies and refer the minority of women > needing > medical assistance. At the moment none of this happens. > > I would be happy to talk with you should you be open to > hearing stories of > rural women in this situation. > > Kind regards > > Justine Caines > > Phone (02) 65482248 > > > -- > This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. > Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or > unsubscribe. > ____________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos: Now with unlimited storage http://au.photos.yahoo.com -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
