August 30, 2003

Of men, moving, birth and babies....

One of the interesting aspects of moving our office this week was the interest shown by many of the men who helped us, in the work that we do and in birth in particular.

The removalist that we hired was the same one we used last time (I had forgotten this) but he remembered especially because his partner is pregnant and he was intending to call by and get some information on how to assist her with a good birth. We talked about Birth Centres and as it happened, Jan Robinson, an independent midwife in Sydney, was in the office at the time and knew of a Japanese midwife who would be willing to talk to his partner, who was also Japanese. Email addresses were exchanged and another small birth education class took place in between sorting out our removal needs.

When I ordered some new furniture, the man taking my order asked me for advice about whether they should engage an obstetrician or use the birth centre for their next birth in a few months time. We talked about the statistical outcomes for obstetric care versus midwifery care and I suggested that they go with their first inclination to the birth centre and the public health system.

When removal day came, the guys who actually moved the dozens of boxes were highly amused by some of their contents - a whole box of model breasts!!!

The man who delivered some new office furniture was also expecting to be a father again soon and he was seeking some particular information. He had been to classes and wanted to know about avoiding episiotomy, but the educator has talked in “official language” (his words) and when he asked specific questions about the vagina, she was too acutely embarrassed to answer him directly! I soon had his query sorted out. Interestingly, he had also heard about the importance of labour hormones to the well being of the newborn and so I pointed him to our web site where I have written about this extensively. He also commented that he thought not enough was being done to encourage women to have natural births, which was an exciting view from a young man. Meanwhile he assembled our desks and then went off happy!

I even had a short conversation with the plumber and carpet layer about children and babies. The plumber knew all about children and the carpet layer was dubious. As I pointed out, these days you can make a conscious decision about whether you have children or not - a vast improvement on our parent’s lives.

All of these helpers were men and all were interested in birth and babies. I noted that they knew about midwifery care, that they felt that birth should not be interfered with, and that medical carers were not usually necessary. I was very encouraged by all this and it once again demonstrated that we must include the men much more in what we are doing. I’ve done my bit for childbirth education this week, in between heaving boxes, packing and unpacking. I have always said that childbirth education can be done in a variety of ways....

Posted by andrea at August 30, 2003 08:45 AM

Comments

I love this Diary entry Andrea! Having been a witness to a couple of these conversations, I too was encouraged to hear that men ARE interested in birth and birthing; they don't get embarrased when words like "vagina" are used and they are willing to take part in a discussion about how their wife/partner can achieve the best possible birth outcome. Perhaps if they were privy to what is sometimes thought of as "secret women's business", then there might be fewer relationship problems in the postnatal period...

Cassandra

Posted by: Cassandra McBurnie on August 30, 2003 12:28 PM

Comments

You may find it interesting to visit the sites about poker card, casino no deposit, online casino casions, gambling cash, blackjack sites, roulette casions, gamble tip, internet casino web, slot machine odds, online casino bonus deposit, online gamble game, casino gambling strategies, casino game strategies, las vegas table, video poker casinos, roulette online card, slot rule, blackjack online deposit, blackjack betting 3d, poker 888, gambling 8888, blackjack tip, poker on net, casino casions, casino gaming, gambling no deposit. .

Posted by: blackjack on January 19, 2004 10:03 AM