Malaysia... An Awakening!

If anyone read my old blog (what little I posted on there!), they will know I had the opportunity to work in Malaysia as a Student Midwife. I had mentioned a few times that I had no idea what to expect... even walking down the corridor on my first day I still was oblivious to what I would experience. Amazingly my very first thought was how I was going to overcome the humidity! It was the beginning of Cultural Awareness that was for sure!

The hospital where I spent most of my time was very different to that that we have in Australia, however not in the ways I envisaged. It was beautifully landscaped and designed, particularly given that the wards were entirely separated from each other and joined only by one, long open-to-the-outdoor corridor. I think one of the most memorable aspects of working there was transferring women to the postnatal ward after they had given birth. The walk almost felt like a tribute to their ability to give birth and to the beginning of a new life.

Labour ward was at the very end of the corridor (the picture above is of myself (left) and the other mid girls in front of the labour ward doors on the first day!) the walk to which was quite educational in that I learnt a lot of Malay by trying to guess which ward was which! The above picture captured before we had actually set foot in labour ward, the smile on my face quietly disappearing as I went beyond those doors. It was for no other reason than I was hit with a symphony of echoing fetal hearts. It was quite disheartening when much of the information that I had been given about the care in Malaysia was very basic. In this, I naively believed that basic would mean just that. Unfortunately that was not the case. I soon learned that every woman, regardless of any significant factor, were strapped down by those awful machines they call CTG's. But wait there is more... in case for some radical reason these women decide they might want mobilise, they are further restricted by intravenous lines for reasons that no one could explain. Then it became obvious that where you had a line going in, you needed something coming out... yeah, you guessed it, pretty much every woman was catheterised. Definitely a rude awakening.

Despite the obvious deflation in enthusiasm you would feel being faced with this, I remained enthusiastic about the opportunity to find out what Malaysia believed midwifery was.

Stay tuned, there are positives amongst some pretty full on and testing experiences that I will post shortly!

New Year, New Blog, The Same Ambition...

Despite the hours of study and the need to find some time for my family and I guess, myself, I have been slack as far as getting on here to discuss anything birth related. It does not mean that my passion and complete love for birth has lessened, if anything it has become even more central to my life and therefore consumes most of my time.

As the title of this post states, its a New Year... many find some mystical trust in the continuation of the last marked by a change in number, however I see it more of a continuation of my want to make a difference in this life, no matter how small. So to mark the beginning of much more than the New Year, I have begun a new blog, with the intent to regularly post how I am still fighting for the same things I in my previous blog.

The blog also marks the dropping of the infamous 'student' title and officially announces me as a MIDWIFE!! It was a long time in the happening and for some unexplainable reason the past month since gaining registration has been completely surreal and I am still dealing with the realisation that what I say and do actually has substance and I am being listened to with some deal of respect. It is to me a fulfilling and exciting prospect but at the same time, a little scary to realise the huge battle that I am going to have on my hands to bring birth back...

Throughout the entire duration of my studies, my ultimate intent was to become an Independent Midwife. It bothers me somewhat that I have chosen another path due to aspects of my life that I cannot change, however although at this point in time I cannot be where I would like to be, I know I have a hugely significant role in the position that I have accepted in the Political, Procedural and Problematic Public Sector. Much of what I have witnessed over the past 3 years has troubled me but amongst it, I have come to the realisation that nothing will change if no one is willing to fight in the thick of it. I know I am going to take some hard knocks, no harder than those that I inflict on myself but its the position that I always wanted to be in whatever I found myself doing in life. Beats having a mundane job with meaningless outcomes or no outcome at all.

My motivation is and always will be the same... the women I work with and my ambition to have them experience birth in all its beauty...

So this blog is the new chapter of my life... the fight begins :)