sucklingrflex
Dear listers, a happy Midwives day to you all on 5th May. WA celebrations sound wonderful I wish I could be there. if anyone went to the ICM congress and wants to give a run down of what it was like I'm all eyes and ears. Alas this time around I could not go, legal stuff has sucked up my funds but I'm definitely welcoming the world in Brisbane 2005. A few questions have arisen from the list the suckling reflex begins at 32 weeks , it was what I learnt 10 years ago as LC and I've just resat the exam and no it has not changed. Regarding PI insurance I sent an email to terry requesting transcript so I wait and see. To all the wonderful Midwives Partners families women and men that keep up this amazing work of striving for what is right a big WELL DONE. I know it feels like we are not getting anywhere, but we are, slowly but surely. As a member of amalg Australian Midwives Act lobby group we are plodding along and are back to the drawing board at the college office in SA 6th May to progress our work. As Caroline Flint said 15 years ago if everyone midwife tells one person a day that they meet about what a midwife is( lets face it this is the fundamental problem here in Oz) then that person knows. Tell the check out person, deli owner , mail man/woman,tell a child. As used by Sandra Kanck recently International women's day 8th March from TH.Lawrence,excuse the sexist language: 'those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous (wo)men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible'. Let us foster cooperation, compassion, intelligence between us and the world we live in. Love to all, Marijke
Re: VBAC feedback
Hi Sue, Wanted to congratulate you on the great outcome with the doctor. I came across a quote which immediately made me think of your story: "Changing birth one OB at a time!" ~Nadine Romain And this is what you did!! Hope you enjoyed your weekend away Hugs, Larissa - Original Message - From: Sue Cudlipp To: ace graphics Sent: Friday, April 26, 2002 6:34 PM Subject: VBAC feedback Dear list A couple of weeks ago I asked if any of you had seen or heard of manual checking of scars following VBAC. I collated your responses, copied the relevant passage from "Effective Guide...". and wrote a letter to go with it all, and posted the lot to the doctor involved. He telephoned me at home a few days later, actually on the weekend, and we had a very lengthy conversation. He was a bit taken aback at the force of some of your comments! On balance, I feel the conversation was productive and was not acrimonious. I respected the fact that he phoned me at home rather than make a verbal assault in the workplace, and it gave us both the opportunity to express our opinions in a neutral zone. I have worked with this doctor (among others) for the past 11 years, and we have had one or two disagreements in that time, without it ever becoming nasty, so I was happy that this was the same. He did say that he would no longer manually check scars - so I guess you could say that the result was a positive one! And I said that I respected his decision to change his practice in light of evidence etc.. It was an interesting exercise for me, as even after all this time (23 years) as a midwife, I still found it took a great deal of courage to actually confront the power of the medical profession. (Why???) Anyway, thank you for all your feedback - none of my colleagues had heard of this procedure either - though in all fairness, my research has shown me that it was indeed considered normal practice once! Happy IMD to you all. I shall be celebrating with a long-overdue, childfree weekend alone with my husband! Sue C
Breech babies
An acquaintance (here in WA) has been recently diagnosed with a breech baby at around 35 weeks. This is her second. Rather than advising a C section straight away - her OB is advising waiting, offering EC at 37 weeks and cautioning against settling for a section, as, to quote - "sections are not without their risks". I have provided her with info re: homeopathy, moxibustion,etc. and various exercises, so we shall see how things go. Debbie Slater CBE Perth, WA
