June 20, 2004

Promoting midwifery in Spain

This afternoon I head to Spain again, to present a workshop for the Acuario Birth Centre in Beniarberg, near Valencia. This will be my third visit to this wonderful centre and I am again looking forward to catching up with my friends there.

This time I am hoping to talk to the people who come to the workshop, and the organisers, about setting up a network of like-minded midwives etc in Spain. From the feedback I have had from midwives in workshops (both in Spain and from Spanish midwives in Britain) and the numerous enquiries that my previous Diary entries, there seems to be a need for a support network to keep moral high and lead a process of change.

There are a number of Spanish people who would like to see more options for birth, fewer interventions, a more holistic and humanised approach to maternity care and better outcomes for mothers ans babies. In short, a midwifery alternative to the current obstetrically dominated services. Changing entrenched programs is hard and difficult, but not impossible and it will take commitment and effort to get such a process moving. A network, probably based around an email discussion list, would be a good place to start. I’ll be talking to everyone that I can during this trip about this possibility and if we can geta group established I will put the details into a future Diary entry.

In the meantime, if you would like to join such a group, please put a comment on this Diary entry and we can be in touch with you.

Sometimes when I am in Spain it can be difficult for me to access my emails regularly and to write my Diary entries as often as I would like. It may be a few days before you receive the next installment, but I will have several days to report on by that time and will post these entries at the same time, as soon as I can.

Posted by andrea at June 20, 2004 08:24 PM

Comments

Dear Andrea

As a British woman living in Spain and hoping to start a family soon, I was rather disturbed at my lack of options. (Fortunately, I live in Valencia so have Acuario nearby). During my investigations I found a fairly new group called "El Parto es Nuestro". The president is Francisca Fernández, a lawyer from Madrid. They are dedicated to promoting humanised birth and offering support to women who´ve had traumatic births.

The website is www.elpartoesnuestro.org (although it´s not finished yet) The mailing list for organisational matters is:
http://es.groups.yahoo.com/group/AsociacionEPEN/

and support group/general info list:http://www.eListas.net/lista/apoyocesareas

www.crianzanatural.com also has chat and messageboards related to natural birth and breast feeding.

Through these lists and the group www.nacerencasa.org, women in Spain can discuss the current situation is in hospitals around the country, find midwives who assist homebirths, share experiences/advice.

Things are moving very slowly. On the 25 and 26 of June there was a conference here in Valencia hosted by the group FEDLAMA (who promote breast feeding) with speakers such as Enrique Lebrero from Acuario, Dr, Isidro Vitorio, Dr. Longinos Aceituno...which I hear was a great success.

This is the first time I´ve visited this site and I was very interested in your entries on Spain. I´m sure everybody on the lists would love to hear from you about your experiences and any advice you have!

Best wishes,
Jenni Walford

Posted by: Jenni Walford on July 10, 2004 04:25 AM

Comments

Hi, I came across this while looking for midwives in Valencia. I am a Doula working in the USA now and I am planning on moving to Valencia in March 2004, Im wanting to find an apprenticeship there or maybe even a position in a birthing center, I wonder if you have any advice or could give me any names or people to talk to ? Thanks so much, Marianne

Posted by: marianne chimi on August 6, 2004 10:17 PM