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Unexpected outcomes

It is time to pack up and get ready to return home to Sydney. This trip has offered the usual diverse experiences, including travelling to Scotland and Ireland and meeting midwives from a large variety of maternity units.

My final program was a Teaching Skills workshop in Bristol. Many of the group had been to an Active Birth workshop in the past and it was good to see them again. We had a lot of fun exploring all kinds of interesting and involving ways to get information across to parents and many new ideas were explored and discussed over the two days.

The topic of stillbirth and handicap came up too. This is a topic that many educators avoid, because it is always an emotional issue, tapping into fears for the unborn baby that many/most women harbour during their pregnancies. We looked at ways of bringing the topic up, such as bolting it onto other issues, such as pregnancy tests, signs of premature labour, fetal developments, nutrition, and newborn care. Almost any topic in a prenatal program could provide an opportunity for raising this area of concern, and although it can be hard to facilitate, a discussion around the basic needs of parents when one of these tragic events occurs is vital - it must be acknowledged as a genuine and common fear or concern.

I have written up some ideas for presenting this topic in prenatal programs. The paper is called “Unexpected outcomes - mention the unmentionable” and it offers some suggestions for those responsible for facilitating parent education. It might be worth a look, if this is your field......

I won’t be back tomy Diary for a few days. There are a number of issues that have popped up in the last 24 hours and I will be exploring these in entries early next week. See you then!

Posted by andrea at March 31, 2004 11:14 PM

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