I've been thinking about this a lot recently, about all the different roles we inhabit. Specifically for me at the moment I'm mulling over my midwifery hat and my NCT hat - which you can see was made for me by one of my student midwife colleagues when I was in the slightly odd position of guest lecturing to my mates about the NCT.
Part of it is that I am cursed always to see other people's point of view, or almost always. (I struggle with "he's different, throw chairs at him!" or similar). But it's rare that I can't see where people are coming from even if I disagree with it. I remember Cherie Blair getting in bother for saying that she could see suicide bombers' points of view. I was surprised that a lot of the reaction was so negative because to me it's a no brainer; of course one can see how a particular set of stresses on top of a certain world view can lead to blowing yourself up. But perhaps not.
So I almost always get stuck on the fence when I'm between two points of view about pregnancy and birth. I'm totally passionate about antenatal education but I accept the evidence that it doesn't actually *do* much by measurable standards (perhaps we're not looking at the right things?) After all, why should antenatal education lower rates of epidural use? It's a perfectly valid choice after all, to decide that in the full knowledge of the potential downsides you're requesting that at the first opportunity. Is that a failure of antenatal education? I don't think so.
Then I start thinking that maybe it is, when I go into a room with a woman with no epidural or other drugs on board and see her birthing her baby in SUCH a different way.
Not that I feel that strongly about epidurals by the way. Except when I'm with someone who does when I immediately start seeing exactly why they're passionate...
So why do I need a midwife hat (starched, white) and an NCT one, hand knitted from lentils and hairy string. After all we want the same things, don't we? Similarly my friends who are doulas - professional birth companions. Why is there a tension between midwives and doulas? I'm mulling that one over too. Why would midwives feel threatened by someone else being there to provide a level of support which hand on heart rarely happens in an NHS labour ward? But then, why should someone without any requirement for training or regulation be in a position to advise a pregnant woman when a midwife has studied for years to do just that, and has a regulatory body to answer to if deemed to have acted improperly.
Don't know. In the meantime I'll keep giving myself a headache trying to balance multiple hats.
But has a midwife studied for years to provide the emotional support that a doula can provide? Does a doula/midwife even NEED training to provide empathy, patience, kindness, back rubs? Is it always going to be the case that there are naturally some amazing midwives to whom this is second nature, equally some appalling doulas who are only out to "change the world"? It's a great set of questions you pose, particularly as I will be meeting you on the doorstep to discuss them over the next three years. I do think, strongly though, that there are different types of midwives just as there are different types of doctors and teachers, and thank god for that. I think that midwifery is a skill, it is an art, it is a science and there are some people that are more artistic and some that are more scientific and you probably need a variety of paintbrushes and lab coats to get a good blend of both, so we must have a great vantage point being able to wear all the hats and hopefully that makes us better midwives/doulas/antenatal teachers?
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