Midwifery Education with Gloria Lemay

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending Gloria Lemay's first online midwifery education class. Over the coming months Gloria is providing twenty classes on topics including: anatomy and physiology of the pelvis, medical language, palpation, cervix effacement and dilation, perineum and preventing tears, twins and breech presentation, to name just a few. You can see the full list of subjects here.

Gloria's first class covered some "Common Obstetric Problems" and was free. She recorded the class for a special one time opportunity for prospective students to listen to, which you can access from here.

The classes are very reasonably priced at $7.99 (I'm not sure if that's Canadian or US) for each individual class or $110 for the full semester. Each class is held on Friday afternoon at 2pm for Australian's based on the East Coast. Gloria very thoughtfully included a link to a world time converter on her blog so that anyone around the world can double check what time the classes would be for them.

I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's class. It's rather cool sitting "in class" with students from different places around the world. I enjoyed learning more about placenta, cord, uterus and the third stage of labour and came away from the computer with yet more respect and awe for the perfection that is women's reproductive power. I have such an urge to talk to everyone I meet about Wharton's Jelly!

Hope to "see" you in class next week when we dive right on in to the pelvis...

For more on Gloria

Her website

Her blog

"Goats don't have midwives"

Bio at bottom of this page

*Featured image: The Midwife by Adrian Baker. Source here.

Have You Heard Of Nevus?

When I first met Clare I had never heard of "Nevus". I remember my eyes being drawn to the large birth mark on her 4th child's face and trying not to stare. I remember another child on the playground asking Clare what was wrong with her child's face and being amazed at how patient and honest she was with the child's questions about her son's condition. And then we became close friends and in all honesty I forgot about his birth mark because it disappears behind his personality.

Clare and her family, however, do not have the luxury of forgetting about 4th's birth mark, because it is more than just a freckle or discolouration. Clare's son has a condition called Congenital Melanocytic Nevus and in his short life has had many surgeries because of it. I know very little about Nevus except that it increases a person's risk of melanoma (and from following Clare's journey I also appreciate what a roller coaster of emotion having a young child who requires multiple surgeries can be for the whole family). Clare has blogged about her familiy's journey here, here and here.

Every two years Australia hosts a conference and camp where families like Clare's meet with other families who understand their journey. They learn more about Nevus, network with specialist care-providers and just generally enjoy a supportive environment. The support group is small and everyone working within it works on a volunteer basis. Presently Clare and family are preparing for the January 2011 conference and are reaching our for donations. This is where you and I come in.

Clare says:

"To donate there are several options. You can visit Nevus Support Australia and donate via cheque, Money Order or Direct Deposit. The lovely Michelle Sibbons started and runs the group. If you are able to donate let her know I sent you.

You can also donate through paypal by clicking on the link on this blog on the top right hand side.

I would also really appreciate it if you could link back to this post, on your blog, to spread the word about our goal to make this happen!"

One of Clare's friends made the image above and Clare has invited others to copy the image and share (with a link to the relevant blog post) on your own blogs and websites.

I urge readers to take a moment to head over to Clare's blog and get an insight into the life of one family living with nevus. And to donate what you can to ensure the support they receive remains ongoing.

Breast & Milk Sharing Gets Decent Press

This week cross-nursing, breastmilk donation and wet nursing have received attention in the Australian media. The sudden interest in breast and milk sharing comes after the launch of Eats on Feets, a rapidly growing grassroots movement using online social networking to connect mothers in need of breastmilk with mothers willing to donate theirs, in a number of different countries. The following article appeared in Melbourne's tabloid newspaper The Herald Sun:

The same evening Channel Nine news featured this segment:

A Sydney radio station also interviewed Sarah McLean on Tuesday afternoon. She also spoke to a Perth radio station on Wednesday, and her interview with Grazia magazine is due to hit stands on Monday.

Considering how uncomfortable the majority of Australians are with all things related to breastfeeding* I was pleasantly surprised by the media's treatment of these issues. The pieces would have been better had they included information about the dangers associated with not breastfeeding and the use of inferior milks, especially given that reporters enquired about the safety of breastmilk sharing. Omitting this, I felt, left their reports unbalanced. It also would have been great if the World Health Organisation's guidelines for infant feeding during emergencies had been mentioned in these reports. WHO clearly states that feeding children milk from another lactating mother is superior to artificial milks.

I was also disappointed by The Herald Sun's attempt to create controversy where there isn't any. As far as the report says one group of women disagreed over adding cross-nursing to their baby-sitting arrangement, while another pair of women were very happy with their breast sharing, the Australian Breastfeeding Association was supportive so long as it was done with consent and all parties were well-informed, and the Australian Medical Association agreed that the health risks associated with milk sharing are minimal. But, in the eyes of a tabloid publication "mothers supporting other mothers" really isn't as catchy or profitable as "cat fights over titty milk!"

Thousands more Aussies are now aware that breastmilk sharing is a legitimate parenting option and that there are regular mums right here at home engaging in the practice, which is fantastic. The great work Eats on Feets has started facilitating has got some worthy attention, which is also fantastic. It is sad, however, that breastfeeding rates in Australia remain unnecessarily low and that efforts to organise breastmilk donation have not happened on a much larger scale through milk banking or official government health initiatives. Instead, breastfeeding mums have taken it upon themselves to fill this gap privately. More power to these awesome lactivists, but come on Australia, surely our supposedly family-friendly government can do better for mothers and children!?

For More Information About Milk Sharing

Le Leche League Info on Milk Banking and Milk Donation

Kellymom Human Milk Banking and Donor Milk Information

Adoptive Breastfeeding - Australian Breastfeeding Association

Adoptive Breastfeding - Le Leche League

Eats on Feets - Facebook

Breast Friends Forever: Breast Sharing Between Families - Essence Magazine

Behind the Scenes - blog post about the above news article

Related Posts

A Very Personal Gift

Breast Milk A Cure For Cancer?

Cross Nursing Support

Pumping For Grace

*for one example of this take a look at the comments on The Herald Sun article, the disgust at toddlers breastfeeding clearly demonstrates that normalising breastfeeding in Australia has a long way to go, afterall breastfed toddlers and their mothers are behaving in totally age and species appropriate ways!