On our way to Glasgow! at last. Europe here we come!

Well the time has arrived, the office is bear, the work that's not done will just have to wait, the bags are packed and I am knackered, 3hrs left before we leave. However that wonderful natural drug called adrenalin is flowing like a torrent through my veins and keeping me awake whilst the rest of the house is asleep.
I am looking forward to the flight, I will be reading Thomas Faunce's new book "Who owns our health?" It is a book about ethics, politics, education and policy makers - it is very intersting, thought provoking. I will also be reviewing some articles related to sex whilst, during and after childbirth, so watch this space.........
I might even take in a movie if there is something worthy on. We are spending the night in Dubi then Glasgow on Saturday, the opening for the ICM is on Sunday. Will keep you posted, watch for the photos. Ciao!

Homebirth: Angelina Jolie wants a homebirth: What sort of birth would you have if money was no object?

I was doing the obligatorily food shopping and as usual the queue was long, shopping trolleys laden with food, good, bad and indifferent. Alas I have to wait, the cover of the Woman's Day beckons me with its striking heading.

Brad and Angies SHOCK HOME BIRTH

Nothing like headlines about Homebirth to get you to buy a magazine when you are a midwife. I flicked through the magazine until it was time to unload my shopping, pack and pay for it.
I sat down at home with a cup of Earl Grey tea, kicked of my shoes and read the article.

Angie loves the idea of a home birth

How fantastic I thought, did no one tell her that having twins puts you in a high category in terms of obstetric risk factors and therefore a homebirth is really not ideal. Then I read further "a team of medics has been flown to the French hideaway in preparation for the twins' arrival"

A gynaecological consultant and midwife, are said to be staying with the family. Angie is looked after around the clock by an ob-gyn, a midwife and at least two nannies

Woh, how good is that, at least there is a midwife present. That shows our status is of some importance. I wonder if they have a portable ultrasound machine in the house?

Angie has a pilot, who has US Army training and a helicopter on 24-hour stand-by to fly her to a local hospital. She is taking no chances.

I wonder how much this is costing? the magazine did not elude to the cost however did say the property they are staying at belongs to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and is valued at $63 million US. It is clear that money is no object.
I would like this job as the midwife? over looking the Mediterranean and caring for Angie.
There are many questions about this case that we do not know, for instance what position are the twins? so it is really difficult to make any clear decisions regarding Angie's care.

I pondered on this for a while and thought if everyone had the money to do and have what ever birth you wanted, what sort of birth would you have?
Who would you have present? What resources would you have and use? does this mean that helicopters are an option?
The mind boggles at the thought. Now stop dreaming, the reality is you do not have to pay millions to have a homebirth.
Homebirth's are within the reach of every woman and midwives are recognised as the best professional to care for a woman within a low risk category - or normal pregnancy.
Every pregnant woman needs to know who her midwife is.


Perth WA, has a Community Midwifery Program which is government funded however we do need more places to be made available for the women of this State. The government is currently reviewing the homebirth policy................so watch this space.

The Community Midwifery Program (CMP) is a unique community based midwife-led service. The Program aims to meet the needs of women and their families by providing them with continuous midwifery care throughout their pregnancy, labour, birth and the early postnatal period. Continuity of care is internationally recognised as increasing satisfaction rates for women who utilise this care option. The CMP is the only government supported homebirth program in Western Australia. The Program is fully funded through Medicare for women eligible for this benefit.

http://www.cmwa.net.au/CMWA%20pages/program.html

Its Nanna time again! more grandchildren on the way!

It is really a busy time of year for me. Like tearing my hair out, the storm before the calm. I know it is meant to be the calm before the storm. I am trying to get this semester rounded off and get papers marked before I leave next week and get unit outlines ready for second semester. As well as tie off loose ends at the hospital. So busy, busy, busy.

Our trip to Glasgow has been planned since the Brisbane ICM 2005. Between Ian and I we have 6 children, you could call us the Brady Bunch. My daughter Faye got married in October last year and was planning another baby - At present we have 4 grandchildren and 3 on the way. Now we did say to all the children that we would be away around June/July 2008 so please do not get pregnant or have you babies around this time if you want us to be around. Maybe that's it we weren't meant to be around! no I don't think so.
Yes you guessed it, kids never listen, even when they are all grown up, maybe we should of said "go ahead have your babies" because guess what! Jodie is due the 15 July, Faye is due 12 July, and when do we return from our European jaunt - the 12 July. Now that is cutting it fine! At least Nikki is not due until October, that gives us a little breathing space.
This means I have my friends (midwives) as backups should any of them go early and need some assistance whilst mum/mother in law is away. It will make shopping in Europe more exciting having all these babies to buy for, however thank goodness for weight restrictions, meaning, we can not buy to much, which is good for me. I do have the tendency to buy too much.


Faye & Brendon's baby 20 weeks - due July
Jodie & Danny's baby picture is posted on the 19 March story in my blog.


Scott & Niki's baby 12 weeks - due October

I am looking forward to buying my Harrods Bears, might get one for all the girls (grandchildren).
9 days to go - then up up and away!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cyber communication - continues

Over the weekend I was catching up with some leisure reading if you can classify the weekend paper as such. I came across an interesting case that occured in the US

Woman charged after MySpace 'joke' goes tragically wrong
A brief synopsis of the story -

A 49 year old mother has been charged over a MySpace hoax that ended with her 13 year old neighbour committing suicide after being rebuffed by a fictitious boy. Several adults including the 49 year woman chatted on line with the girl creating the fictitious relationship, the co-conspirators'chatted with the girl on MySpace and gleaned information from online exchanges to 'torment, harass, humiliate and embarrass' the girl. The woman who created the joke felt that it had gone to far so ended the fictitious relationship by saying the 'the world would be a better place without the girl in it" The message was supposed to end the relationship and so it did. The 13 year old girl committed suicide by hanging herself.

West Australian p 30 Saturday 17 May 2008

What these people did not know is that this girl was being treated for attention deficit disorder and depression. This was an incredibly cruel and malicious joke which contributed to the death of a child someone so vulnerable. The woman has been charged in relation to the death of the child. Watch this space to see the outcome........

This is an exteme case of cyber bulling, it highlights that often we do not know what people's psyhological status is when we are communicating on line. All the more reason to remember that it payes to be considerate and not malicious, rude or foul mouthed when communicating on line.
Picture from:
http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2007/03/01/svYOUTUBE_wideweb__470x468,0.jpg&imgrefurl=http://educationaltechnology.ca/couros/613&h=468&w=470&sz=46&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=3nzR5gfGq8eimM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcyberbullying%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4HPAB_enAU248AU248%26sa%3DN

Leo - Self Determination - Autonomy

I would like to share this tremendous picture with you all. This has to be one of the best images I have taken for a long time - this 32 year old Lion lives in Perth Zoo, you can not see the glass protecting me from this magnificent animal, just as well, he is so majestic just inspiring a true king. This Lion represents for me self-determination and autonomy just by his presence. It is a shame he is in captivity.

Communication on the internet, should there be limitations?

There are so many forums in which we can communicate these days. The one I think that is surpassing all is the internet. You can blog, email, surf, myspace, facebook and many more that I do not even know. There seems to be little that you can not access these days. You might think that state secrets, identities and bank details are safe, however we often hear of breaches in these areas. Why? 'hackers' that is people who spend their time breaking into supposedly secure sites. If you want to know anything you just check one of the many search engines including the dominant 'Google'and it will give you endless information.
As a forum for communiction what limitations should be placed, if any, on the freedom of speech.

My question is, should this forum to be free of consequences in relation to the freedom of speech? let me explain further.
Is this a forum where we can say and write whatever we desire, without any fear of recrimination as we can be totally anonymous if we choose?
What is your opinon?

2008 Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards WA

2008 West Australian Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards
Presented by the Nurses and Midwives Board of WA
Saturday 10th May Burswood Entertainment Complex – Grand Ballroom


Last night was the Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards, what a great night of celebrations for the profession of Nursing and Midwifery. More than 500 people came together to celebrate, nurses, midwives, family and friends. The night was likened to that of the Logies, glamour, glitz and lots of awards. The fashion was fantastic and the air was filled with excitement.
Robin Collins, the Chief Executive Office of the Nurses and Midwives Board of WA, opened the evening by thanking all the Nurses and Midwives for their dedication to the profession.
Dixie Marshall did a professional job as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening – what a remarkable woman and a wicked sense of humour. Well done Dixie, and yes I watch channel 9 news, however go the ‘Eagles’.
The Hon, Mr Jim McGinty, MLA Minister for Health, presented the Nurse/Midwife of the Year 2008 and also thanked the Nurses and Midwives for their hard work and dedication to the profession, promising nurses and midwives better working an pay conditions.
These awards are presented for excellence within the Nursing and Midwifery professions and are well recognised within the industry. However the nature of these awards also represent an excellent service to the community and as such are little recognised.
I believe these awards deserve greater recognition in the media, in order to inform the community of the achievements within the profession. Also I think that the Minister of Health should increase the monetary value of the awards by a significant amount to reflect the importance of these awards and to keep them in line with standards set in other professions and today’s values.
What stood out for me during the awards was that all recipients of the awards when accepting stated “Thank you, I love my job……….” That’s dedication.

Congratulations to all the nominees, finalist and winners of the awards.

King Edward Memorial Hospital (Women’s and Newborn Services) did very well with the excellence awards:
Winners & Finalist being:
Lisa Nicolaou: Graduate Midwife of the Year (winner)
Tracey Martin: Emerging Leader of the Year (winner)
Sara Bayes: Researcher of the Year (winner)
Claire Henderson: Metropolitan Acute care Midwife of the Year (winner)
Sara David: (finalist)
Deborah Ireson (finalist)

Well done and again congratulations to all.
Photos of the evening












A good night was had by all, the entertainment was provided by "One Step Ahead Productions". Many thanks to the Nurses and Midwives Board of WA, Dept of Health, Dixie Marshall and all the sponsors for the awards, it was a superb evening.

Posing the ethical question?

Last week in the news I heard this story and it was thought provoking so I thought I would share it and hopefully generate some discussion. I am interested to see what everyone thinks about these ethical dilemmas.
With the health care funds being in such high demand, not enough to go around, is it now time to think about who gets specialised health care? and if so, this then will have greater implications on society.
Posing the question: Should a serial rapist who shows no remorse or signs of rehabilitation and serving time in goal be allowed to have a life saving kidney transplant? The Queensland government has put such a person on a taxpayer funded program for a transplant. As we are aware there are many, many people waiting for a kidney transplant, so should assessments be based on purely medical need or personal character and to what value they have in society?

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/comments/0,23836,23662358-952,00.html

Remembering - The ethical principle of Justice - "fairness and equity to all"
What do you think?
It is an interesting question? will the day come when we make these sorts of decisions? I hope not!
Let me know what you think?

Glasgow! International Congress of Midwives (ICM)

Holidays in 23 days - I am off to Glasgow for the ICM Conference for Midwives, I am so excited, like a cat on a hot tin roof! you can not wipe the smile of my face!

The first 6 days will be in Glasgow for the ICM conference - 1- 5 June 2008 Glasgow exhibition centre. Don't forget the wining and dining as well.

The International Confederation of Midwives supports, represents and works to strengthen the professional standing & associations of midwifery on a global basis.
My husband Ian will also be accompanying me and he will be doing some tours of the local whiskey establishments and off the famous golf course of St Andrews - I think I am a little jealous!
After Glasgow we will be travelling through Europe - what another adventure, even if we are doing it on a shoe string budget!

We have booked a car to drive to Leeds - as we have family there, we will rest and see family for a few days then it is off to Ireland - destination "The Giants Causeway" watch this space for the photo's.
Italy is on the itinerary as that is where my family is and off course we can't go to the UK without spending time in London and my old stomping ground of Watford to meet up with my fellow madwives - what a treat that is going to be, Ian is in for a shock because when we are all together we are truly mad midwives.
The count down has began! the world beckons!

Celebrating International Midwives Day

5 May, International Midwives Day. As we all know this is a day of celebrating who we are: It is a day of promoting the profession of Midwifery.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognises midwives as the health professionals best able to deliver safe, cost effective matenity services to the majority of families.
This is a day to celebrate, for every midwife to reflect about our profession and think of other midwives around the world.To make a consious effort to make new contacts within and outside midwifery and widen the knowledge of what midwives do for the women of the world.
Now don't you feel very special.


The education committee for the ACM WA Branch: Andrea, Alison, Me, Mo & Taryn

In Perth WA the Australian College of Midwives organised a day conference at Technology Park Bentley - the morning session was on Water Birth - labouring and birthing in water. The next session was by Lorraine Hale introducing her new program Birth Beyond Fear program - this is a wonderful program dealing with womens'fears surrounding birth, look up her website: http://www.birthbeyondfear.com.au
Lunchtime was the announcement of the Johnsons Baby Midwife of the Year Award. The afternoon was all about how to reduce work and life stressors - this was presented by Arlene Quinn a Life Coach followed by Body, Mind, soul Restoration presented by Many Bruford.
All in all it was a fantastic celebration and we had a great turn out of midwives. The day was also a sucess due to the collaboration with other organisations such as; Birthrites, Simply Birth, Autstralian Doulas, Community Midwifery WA and the many others that supported our celebration.


Midwife of the Year Julie with her baby, "congratulations mummy"


Networking at morning tea


KEMH educators/clinical tutors having a lunch time pose: Lorraine, Andrea, Me, Liz & Trish


Midwife of the year Julie & Natalie (J&J)

International Midwives Day was a great day, Curtin Universtiy celebrated this special day with all Postgraduate and Bachelor of Midwifery students recieving a special block of Midwifery chocolate, lunch, also door prizes of self nurtering packs - it was a great opportunity for networking - Every day should be a celebration of Midwifery.


Curtin University Postgraduate Midwifery & Bachelor Midwifery students

Happy Midwives Day!