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"The nature of the internet and the future
of midwifery"
midge jolly, home based midwife, Associate of Science/Midwifery,
Licensed Midwife,
"the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes,
but in having new eyes" .....Jonathan Swift
My great~great~grandmother, Clara Dove, was a midwife in the Appalachian
mountains of WVA in the 1920's and she could not even begin to recognize
midwifery today. The way things are changing I am not sure that I will recognize
the midwifery of tomorrow if I do not keep my eyes open and focused on the
internet. I come from a long line of computer geniuses, my mother was trained
by the USArmy in the 50's on the big UNIVAC computers and all of my siblings
were computer literate long before the advent of personal computers. I, on
the other hand was a "jolly come lately" and resisted until midwifery school
forced me to become involved in a relationship with a personal computer.
Three years later, J. Swift and I share a world view that becomes more pertinent
every day. With the internet, my eyes have been forced open to an entirely
new way of viewing the future of midwifery as an independent, viable art
and profession. It is a fresh new vision, pregnant with possibility.
Without a lot of fanfare or media attention the midwifery model of care is
gaining momentum and promoting change via the internet and a growing legion
of midwives and advocates for the midwifery model. Most of the folks sharing
information on the internet have never seen one another and only share their
experiences via the electronic medium of cyberspace, email, bulletin/message
boards and webpages. Some, perhaps most, of these women and men, professional
and consumer alike, are unaware of the impact of their presence, even without
participation, in this medium. What a thought, hands on, face to face midwifery,
growing in its ability to promote change, facilitated by a medium that appears
to be anathema to the midwifery model. The benefits of rapid information
exchange far outweigh any risk that i can contemplate. In fact, the risks,
at this time seem so nebulous as to be impossible to put into words (not
discounting confidentiality issues). As this medium expands so do the number
of people exposed to the midwifery model of care. Women are exposed to a
greater variety of possible choices in health care than ever before, and
midwifery is in the forefront of this information explosion.
One of the greatest assests to the midwifery model has also been a drawback
in terms of self promotion in our contemporary world. TIME. Midwives spend
so much time with clients that there has often been little left for advocacy
and politics outside our immediate sphere, mostly whatever was required in
order to survive. Now, however, we can spend time with women and talk with
other midwives, students, midwifery advocates, MDs, world renowned birth
activists and consumers without leaving home or office, gaining much needed
clincal information, support and inspiration......and saving time. On a daily
basis, many of us are making contact with one another via the internet. There
are web pages, mailing lists, BBforums, newsgroups and email loops dedicated
to midwifery, pregnancy, and birth offering information and support. The
variety of discussions on the internet is mind boggling, eveything from
professionals on clinical issues and alternatives to professionals and consumers
on the merits of home or hospital as a birthing site and consumers with
international "home birth support" email loops, midwifery mailing lists that
welcome OB's to their forum (and vice versa). Midwives are being seen, heard
and making change in a way unimagined before the internet. Women on message
boards everywhere are avidly seeking information on alternatives to the medical
model of health care and birth, midwives and midwifery care. The informal,
almost friendly, nature of internet communication has allowed doors that
have long been closed to be flung open (i.e. obgyn list).
Grassroots political action has taken great leaps forward with the advent
of the internet. We can be kept up to date about local, national and
international midwifery doings via OBCNEWS, sci.med. midwifery newsgroup,
Citizens for Midwifery and the fensende mailing lists, to name just a few
of the many sources of information available today. We are able to share
information much more informally (i.e. individual midwives/midwifery advocates
websites, fensende archives). We are now able to garner support for time
sensitive issues without the delay of snailmail, phones and faxes (i.e. Ste
Therese birth center closing pleas for support with a 3 day window...OBCNEWS).
The rapid nature of communication on the internet gives us the opportunity
and ability to address assaults to the profession in a timely and professional
manner with more support than ever. (i.e. the recent newspaper poll in support
of midwifery/Illinois with a several hour window). We also are finding support
in suprising places and are more able to utilize the offered support of some
world players as needed (i.e. the AOL home or hospital debate).
My new eyes have been given a different perspective on old issues that bear
watching as the national midwifery struggles continue. Promoting and protecting
midwifery as it best serves women may mean different things to each of us.
Whatever our position, working to promote midwifery and taking great care
to maintain autonomy and individuality is of much importance. Keeping abreast
of the current tug of war in our own back yards is difficult but necessary
to our continued survival. As we keep adding our "voice" to the shared
information, we will be better able to survive and flourish.
Thankfully, not only the struggles are out there to be watched on the internet.
My new eyes have allowed me to see many things in the last year that offer
hope for the future of midwifery. I see midwives sharing information and
learning a new respect for one another in spite of personal alphabet soup
issues. I see the potential for midwifery advocacy via the internet to increase
exponentially as we begin to "know" one another. Old habits seem to be difficult
to change and *survival mode* has long been the position of midwifery in
this country. I see that midwifery might actually find the energy to advocate
for itself rather than spend so much energy doing "damage control" if we
use the internet to full advantage. I encourage all of us to join midwifery
mailing lists, grassroots updates, CfM, OBCNEWS, sci.med.midwifery, sign
guest books on web sites and support those who support midwifery on the internet.
Make contact with one another, it is the key to our survival and growth.
I have great hope that we can all use new eyes to see ways to promote the
midwifery model of care as a safe and sane choice in an ever changing world.
I trust that we will all have many blessings and continued joy in our work.
~~~Midge Jolly is a Florida Licensed Midwife and graduate of the Miami-Dade
Associates in Midwifery program. She offers home based midwifery care in
the Florida Keys. She has been involved with home based midwifery and active
in Florida grassroots midwifery politics since 1983. If you wish to share
information about sites, lists, etc or to know more about midwifery mailing
lists, websites or share ways to promote midwifery using the internet, she
happily responds to email. Just write to:
midgewife@aol.com
~a note from the author:
Thanks to Midwifery Today for continuing to find innovative ways to share
midwifery information. Also, special thanks to Justine Clegg, LM, CPM, for
her unfailing dedication to the midwifery model of care and educating midwives,
myself included; Faith Gibson, LM, CPM, community midwife for her gentle
inspiration and dedication to women in the real world and on the web; Marina
Alzugary, CNM for her continued support of midwifery education and activism
in all its colors; and finally Sabrina Cuddy, CBE and "mother of fensende"
for hanging in there and advocating for education and women all over the
internet. All of these women, and many unnamed, have long supported the the
midwifery model of care and the women we serve. I am so pleased to have the
opportunity to thank them publicly for their continued impact on my growth
as a midwife and advocate of midwifery.
Florida professional association
Midwives
Association of Florida
Return to
Midwife's Dream
for links to other sites
Midwife, Midwives
& Midwifery, attempts to address the alphabet soup
of current midwifery
copyright 1998 Midge Jolly, home based midwife, ASM, LM