Have you ever thought what a Midwife's role in your maternity care is all about?
What is the difference between midwifery and medicine? They are two distinctly different disciplines based on different approaches to pregnancy and birth.
One recognises the normalcy and natural processes of pregnancy and birth where there is an intimate focus on the relationship between mother and child. The other , viewing pregnancy and birth on more a physical level where the care is likely to be identifing with a crisis . Where solutions are sort outside of the personal self reflection of the mother. There is more recognition on the need to the administration and management of care. All this often without the benefit of a fully informed or a consenting mother, instead the expectation is one where the mother is to obediently follow all the recommendations of the doctor or midwives that attend her.
How these two models of care become mixed and complicated is more to do with the litigative nature of society that has become our norm. It is the matter of policy and risk management that is more prevalent than the acknowledgement of nature being unpredictable yet infinitely wise in the way in which the mysteries of life unfolds within the womb .
Look more closely to the model of midwifery and you will notice a variance in the type of midwifery care that is practised in different countries, different states, different cultures and a variety is dependant on whether the midwives are independent or part of a hospital system. The medical model is more focussed on the uterus and fetus, dealing with them from a technological perspective, charting, scanning, measuring, weighing, according to their latest stats. Is it not possible that these are widely out of sync with woman. Each woman being unique in every aspect yet must confirm to the 'hospital's norm' for the length of gestation.
There is a saying that goes: "midwives see birth as a miracle and only mess with it if there is trouble. Obstetricians see birth as trouble, and if they don't mess with it, it is a miracle". That being said, there are both sides of physicians and midwives who follow an approach that embraces nonintervention and conversely there are those who follow the code of active management of birth.
In Qld,Australia, Direct Entry Midwives must conform to a standard of where:
The scope of nursing and midwifery practice is that which nurses and midwives are educated, competent and authorised to perform. The actual scope of an individual nurse’s or midwife’s practice is influenced by the:
- context in which they practice
- clients’ health needs
- level of competence, education and qualifications of the individual nurse or midwife
- service providers’ policies
Midwives can also be skilled in other areas that may include complementary therapies, such as massage, herbalism, homeopathy, hypnobirthing, hypnosis, acupuncture , intergrating the balance of mind , body , emotions and spirit in childbirth. Even with these additional skills they may be prohibited in using them in a hospital where there is conflict with the providers policies.
Around the world especially in developing countries, empirically trained midwives attended 3/4 of all births but many of these women had no formal education and may have simply been women who have given birth themselves. Their familiarity with the process was experiential, and their customs told them that birth was natural. These women are usually called lay midwives. Lay midwifery in the US started as women were often disappointed with their birth experiences in hospital. The Lay midwifery movement in the 1970 came as couples chose to ignore their fears and the warnings of medical establishments and give birth at home themselves. Women who stepped into help created their own style of care but were not medically trained, nor were they limited by legislation or hospital restrictions. Once such woman is Ina May Gaskin, often referred to in the US, as ' mother of the midwifery movement'. In 1970 a pregnant Ina May set off for a life as a hippie, along with 250 other followers of a counter culture movement on a five month tour across the States , in what became known as the 'Caravan', helped a pregnant woman who went into labour birth the first of what would eventually be eleven births without obstetric care. To know more, Gaskin writes a colourful story in her book, Spiritual Midwifery.
Robbie Davis-Floyd and Ina May Gaskin are two inspirational women who advocate natural birthing, tapping into the inner knowledge for guidance as care givers, midwives, doula, to assist the birthing mother. Ina May Gaskin is the first person to have a medical procedure named after her, the Gaskin Maneouver. Both speakers will be attending the Home Birth Australia conference 19-21 Aug, 2011 in Newcastle, Australia.
