[๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐] ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ช๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐ฌโฃ
๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐, ๐๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ข๐๐ฐ๐ข๐๐๐ซ๐ฒ
[๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐] ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ช๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐ฌโฃ
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I wrote last week about the likelihood of another advanced civilisation somewhere in the universeโs past and how we donโt have access to any of their music and poetry. How amazing would it be if we could find some of it? If we could compare their stuff and our stuff, we might come across some fundamental truths about the business of being alive. The ultimate cross reference.โฃ
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Iโm of the opinion that people of different ages get access to different knowledge. We can do this cross-referencing by looking at our own lives. When I was 19, I thought that the labour ward looked like the inside of a submarine, with porthole windows on all the doors and no natural light. At age 33, I think the labour ward looks old and beaten up, but if weโre overtly kind and respectful to people, none of that matters.โฃ
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Back when I was a student, one woman in my care was upset because she wanted to birth at the birth centre, and she couldnโt because she had a low iron count. Talking to her in more detail, it wasnโt that she was upset because she was worried about not having an active birth or having a cannula, it was just that we were going through a phase of having a shopping trolley in every labour room, so that we could take stuff to the postnatal ward easily. She hated the idea of giving birth with a shopping trolley in the room, it felt like it cheapened the experience.โฃ
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Today I wonder if we could have just...removed the shopping trolley. Put some music on. Turned the lights off and assisted her in making the room hers. What I learnt from being a student midwife: labour ward can be an alienating place; what I learned as a qualified midwife: if we listen to why we might have agency to fix that. Remembering what 19-year-old me thought is still very important because now Iโm used to the labour ward, I donโt even see my surroundings. Students and junior staff are so important for these reasons. They remind us of our culture, which becomes virtually invisible as we get more experienced.โฃ
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What set you on fire when you were young? What do you hold to be important now? If youโve got crossover, youโve struck gold.โฃ
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All my best,โฃ
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