I am a first year student midwife at Wolverhampton
University. I would like to sing the praises of my mentor,
J. Johnson. During a year of clinical placement she has
taught me the stuff you can't read in books. I have eagerly
observed whilst she has empowered women in one of the most
important aspects of any care: telling them they have the
power! I have watched whilst she practices the art of good
communication and developing equal relationships in deciding
and planning their care. She has developed my thinking. We
have had many conversations in which she has learned from
me. This has helped my confidence in my practice because I
feel we are equal partners and I'm not just there to carry
the bags or make the tea--in fact it's very rare for me to
make it!
Because you hear so many horror stories, I want to let other
students know that there are some great mentor midwifes out
there. J. is the most helpful of people in all aspects of my
course and my only hope is that I will become half as good a
midwife as her. She will influence my practice throughout my
professional career.
-Nicola Edwards
====
I have to thank Nancy Wainer Cohen (now Nancy Wainer) for
pointing me in the direction my life has gone. It was 1981;
I was an OB/GYN nurse-practitioner and childbirth educator.
I had had my first baby eight months prior (c-section for
failure to progress: CPD--the usual diagnosis). I got a
flyer advertising a VBAC conference in Boston. I was
intrigued, so I decided to go learn so I could teach other
clients. After all, "my c-section had been necessary."
That weekend opened my eyes tremendously to what was going
on with birth in the U.S. I networked, learned, cried,
shared and laughed with about 50 other women. That weekend
we decided to form the National Cesarean Prevention
Movement.
I returned to Indianapolis with a mission: lower the
cesarean rate, educate women, promote VBAC. Nancy was my
mentor. I wrote to her, called her, and visited her at her
home in Boston. I remember waking up and hearing her
downstairs--by the time I went down, she had already made
two casseroles to freeze, fed the kids, cleaned the
kitchen---she was a dynamo! I sat in on her VBAC class that
night. Remember, this was 1981-82--revolutionary stuff! I
became a CNM the following year.
Nancy's book, Silent Knife, is "the Bible of VBAC." I still
hand it out to all VBAC clients. I was her groupie for a
while--I went to lots of conferences to hear her speak. Of
course, I also learned a lot about myself through her and
learned how unnecessary my first cesarean was. I went on to
have two VBACs after that. I will always be indebted to
Nancy for her fire, her dedication, her insistence on
treating birth as normal. What a brave woman!
-Patty Brumbaugh CNM
====
Once upon a time, I worked as a nursing assistant in a small
community hospital, the very same one I had been born in
twenty-something years earlier. I worked the night shift
while I was in college. A high school friend called me one
day to tell me one of her sorority sisters from college had
been hired in our labor and delivery ward. She told me
Leslie was an RN studying to be a nurse-midwife. This
interested me because I had never heard of such a path. And
to me, midwifery was everything--womanist, humanist,
environmentalist, political. I needed to meet this Leslie!
Not too much longer I stepped into the hospital elevator
while running to the lab, and walked right into Leslie. As
soon as I saw her big green eyes, sparkling with stars of
encouragement and wisdom, I knew this was the woman my
friend had spoken of. She said "Cynthia?" I said "Leslie?"
and we giggled. We knew each other as if we had grown up
together. She would soon become my midwifery mentor.
A few days later, she put "Spiritual Midwifery" into my
hands. Inside, Leslie had written, "Each one, teach one." I
tried on the idea that I could be a midwife! Leslie and I
would often end our shifts at 7 am and spend hours and hours
watching videos, reading Midwifery Today magazines and
intellectually devouring books. I often say to people
nowadays, "It's all Leslie's fault!" Leslie, ever modest,
rolls her eyes and asks me not to put her up so high. I
remember telling her once how much I liked her hands. "My
hands?" she said, wondering.
A few years later, I met a young lady who was interested in
becoming a midwife. She began to ask questions about the
how-to's. I told her all about avenues toward being a doula,
kinds of midwifery education, magazines she could subscribe
to, and so forth. To my surprise, she turned to me and said,
"I really like your hands." I smiled, got a little misty,
and said "Thank you." I understood.
Each One, Teach One: that is how the midwifery tale is told.
-Cynthia Yula
Eugene, OR
====
What influenced me? It was the mother who had homebirths in
the 1920s and 30s because that was normal. She birthed me in
1948 in the hospital and always said she didn't like it. It
was the midwife I met in my eighth month of Montane's
pregnancy who made me think and gave me choice. It was the
friend who asked for my help because she trusted me. It was
my faith in women and our god-given right to choice.
In my mind everyone had choice, and if they wanted it and
needed my help, I was going to do the best job I could at
supporting that choice. But I need to warn all of you:
regulation takes that choice away because those in control
feel they know more about you than you do. We need to work
to support the right to choose rather than our right to
practice.
-Ollie Anne Hamilton, CPM, DEM
Great Falls, MT
Reprinted from Midwifery Today E-News (Vol 2 Issue 30 July 26, 2000)
To subscribe to the E-News write: enews@midwiferytoday.com
For all other matters contact Midwifery Today:
PO Box 2672-940, Eugene OR 97402
541-344-7438, midwifery@aol.com, Midwifery Today
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