I did actually respond and my friend has told me it hasn't worked.... how
frustrating
in essence; my response is that the focus is on 'little' bit of knowledge
being dangerous, compared with 'alot' of knowledge that is well researched
and evidence based being a fabulous thing. My point of Kelly supporting the
woman in the way her service offers is that her service offers non-medical
support and the women love this. By obtaining information from an internet
list and offering this in opposition to the care the woman receives from the
hospital can have a potentially damaging effect on her trust of the carers
at the hospital that she has chosen. The woman should take her birthing
plan and her queries regarding the blood pressure to the people at the
hospital, where she can discuss what an induction means and why she may or
may not need this.
The subject of fear in labour- if this fear comes from ill informed advice,
misunderstanding with health care professionals or simply from scary tales
from friends, there is no place for this fear in labour. Instinctive fear
is a different topic from this.
I recently eased fears from a woman in less than a minute when I palped her
OP babe, I told her that I'd never actually 'caught' a babe in OP because
they had all turned in labour, she was instantly relieved and we discussed
different positions that took away her back pain.
I made absolutely no reference to woman being treated like infants (!?) or
undeserved of information.
My defense over the interference in hospitals stands only on this- that
people interfere when they are concerned of the potential risk to the mother
and baby, if we did nothing we are also putting them at risk. Can we not
make this an 'us and them' sort of argument? I care for woman AND work in a
hospital!
I also responded in thanks to Kelly for clarifying her frankness with the
list as opposed to the way she is with her clients.
Maybe I'm vetoed from the list and that's why it didn't appear?
From: Jo Bourne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au
To: ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au
Subject: Re: Fw: [ozmidwifery] Blood pressure...
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 14:54:08 +1000
I did get it the first time... maybe some emails get through to some people
but not everyone?
At 12:29 PM +1000 6/7/06, Stephen & Felicity wrote:
>Sending this to the list for the second time as it mysteriously
disappeared. >:o(
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen & Felicity"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: <ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au>
>Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2006 1:17 PM
>Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] Blood pressure...
>
>>"A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing."
>>
>>Heidi, I'm shocked by this statement. I can only assume I misunderstood
your stance; could you expand on this statement?
>>
>>Being well-informed is not about being scared or doubtful of the
Hospital (and a Doula doesn't "put fear or doubt" into their clients); it's
a basic human right, particularly for a birthing woman and her baby.
Knowledge is never dangerous (it's NOT being informed that carries the
danger); and if knowledge leads a woman to feel fearful of a course of
action that is proposed for her, that is a GOOD thing - it's her intuition
telling her that she isn't ok with it happening, and pushing her to seek
other options. Co-operation with a Hospital and her careprovider is not the
ultimate goal for a birthing woman. It should be the other way around.
>>
>>Women are not infants and they have a right to any and all information,
and to their emotions - even if they include fear. Fear is natural in
birth and it's good support and good practice that gets us through it
effectively; not avoiding the feeling altogether.
>>
>>Careproviders might not interfere with women and birth for fun (although
I've seen and heard of Obs that indicate differently - and even, rarely,
Midwives), but the rates of intervention compared to the rates indicated as
actually necessary show that they're not often intervening based on
evidence, either.
>>
>>It's not the information and knowledge that scares women. It's the
practices and the outcomes. To address the fear we don't need to withhold
information so the women can birth in Hospital without fuss; we need to
truly support women, foster open negotiation and respect, and keep pushing
to change the practices that aren't evidence-based or in the best interests
of women and their babies.
--
Jo Bourne
Virtual Artists Pty Ltd
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