Thinking further about normality, I think that the emphasis should be much
more positive on keeping birth normal, i.e. providing the sort of
environment which 'nurtures the parasympatheticus' (Beatrice Smulders, The
Free Woman) enabling and empowering women to produce the right hormones at
the right time to allow their bodies to let go of their fetus.
I think your 2 obstetricians should be considering how they can make their
preferred environments more conducive to normal labour and they should work
harder at turning the potentially abnormal back to normal again (instead of
turning the normal into abnormal). This means getting rid of the atmosphere
of fear and panic induced by alien environments and power politics. It means
giving women as much control as possible, it means not beating them about
the head with statistics designed to scare them into even scarier places
where their bodies will be all the more likely to freeze up.
We can help make all labours abnormal by providing the wrong environment and
a large part of me believes that this is what has happened since birth was
taken out of the home.
In fact providing the right environment will help all women even if they
have been previously classified as abnormal, British statistics showed that
home birth was safer than hospital birth for women whatever their risk
factors, i.e. even women with lots of risk factors tended to do better at
home when matched by risk factor to those giving birth in hospital.
yours Margaret
----- Original Message -----
From: Jennifer Cameron <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 12:14 AM
Subject: Help!
> Hello all.
> I have a problem....2 in fact. I have just finshed drafting up some
> guidelines for our Family Birth Rooms. The guidelines have been approved
by
> all the appropriate committees but 2 of our Obstetricians will not agree
to
> consensus unless there is a clear definition of what is normal re
pregnancy,
> labour & birth. I thought I had made it clear but no..... I have attached
> the guidelines for your perusal. I do not believe we need to spell out
what
> is normal. I thought that was the basis for midwifery education &
practice.
> However, I welcome your thoughts on whether I should provide these 2 with
a
> definition of what is normal. I would also welcome strategies for dealing
> with this sort of obstructive behaviour.
> Thanks
> Jenny
> Midwifery Joint Appointment
>
>
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