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Perceptive midwifery

For the last two days, Lynne Staff and I have been presenting “Perceptive Midwifery” workshops, the first one in Wales and today, in Glasgow. This program encourages midwives to explore their practice in depth, focusing on their ability to really get into rapport with women, especially when pregnancy and birth contain complexities. A large part of the morning session also deals with communication skills, because without these, a midwife may make assumptions about what women want, or may fail to really provide care that is woman-centred. Lynne asks the group to consider the woman’s needs in terms of her sexuality, her relationship with caregivers, the impact that technology will impose and the implications and consequences of the obstetric procedures she may be subjected to when her labour becomes complicated.

The two groups we have been working with could not have been more different. The group in Wales was made up almost entirely of midwives with many years of experience, mostly hospital based, but some community based as well. There were also two homebirth midwives in the group, both direct entry trained, and one with no hospital experience at all.

The group in Glasgow were mostly students, including five who had travelled from Ireland to attend. These were feisty, passionate women, keen to do the best for women, and all were struggling to handle the conflict between the academic teaching and the practical application of what they were learning.

It has been an enjoyable two days. Firstly because I always enjoy working with my colleague Lynne, who is a midwife with an incredibly strong belief and trust in women and a passion that has enabled her to facilitate all kinds of births in a very woman-centred way. Secondly, I have enjoyed being able to present some different material from the Active Birth or Teaching Skills programs that I am usually asked to do - not that I don’t love that work, but it is good for me to have a change.

Posted by andrea at April 13, 2005 10:19 PM