Re: [ozmidwifery] Midwives in Finland??

[Päivi]

Title: Midwives in Finland??

Hi Justine,   I don't think there are any midwifes from Finland here, unless they are just lurking... But I can probably help this woman in what ever degree is possible. I am a childbirth educator and work together with the Aktive Birth Association in Finland. They will have the best contacts for homebirth midwives. Sad thing is, that there are only couple of them and it depends greatly where she is living. There are no birth centres and most hospitals are fairly medicalized. I have all the statistics for each hospital and have a pretty good idea of the different choices if she is living in the southern Finland. The booklet she received sounds pretty bad. I don't think enemas and shaves are routines anymore, but rest of it is probably true. What I find most disturbing in our hospitals is, that many of the midwives seem to have lost the trust in normal natural labour, and since you can't choose the midwife in advance you just have to cross your fingers and hope to get mached with a midwife, who enjoys and knows how to support a woman in natural labor. But I guess this is the problem everywhere.   Please ask her to contact me by email [EMAIL PROTECTED]. I have also lived in Australia myself, so would love to help her out.   Päivi   ----- Original Message ----- From: Justine Caines To: OzMid List Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 6:30 PM Subject: [ozmidwifery] Midwives in Finland?? Do we have any Finnish midwives on list? If not does anyone know of any? An Australian woman in Finland is looking for a Homebirth midwife. She was horrified by the following I just want to quote to you the section of the information booklet I received called 'we're having a baby'. This section is titled 'admission routines' and it says: 'The following procedures will be carried out on admission. First you will be weighed and washed and asked to change into hospital clothes. You will then be given an enema, as an empty bowel gives the baby more room. Your pubic hair may be shaved off. Your blood pressure and pulse will be taken and your urine tested for protein and glucose. An external and internal examination will be made to determine the baby's size, the size of your pelvis and how far the cervix is dilated'. Ta JC