Book Review

It is amazing, and perhaps a sad reflection of the priorities in maternity care, that we have reached the year 2000 before a book is published which examines aspects of women's relationships with the midwives who attend them.

Mavis Kirkham has brought together the distilled knowledge, experience and observations of many well recognised experts. In a short review it is not possible to mention them all, but every single chapter is a revelation and thought provoking.

Mary Cronk's chapter on her role as a professional servant should be required reading for every midwifery student (and not a few long-qualified midwives who would benefit from her approach). Mary argues that a midwife as a professional servant is not diminished or demeaned, but is a skilled, knowledgeable practitioner who is there to offer her advice, support what the woman wants, and thereby enable the woman to assume control and assist her to develop into a strong, capable, mother.

So many of the complaints we receive in AIMS are a result of midwives determination to assume control and punish those women who dare to challenge. Yet Nicky Leap's exploration of the concept of "the less we do, the more we give" shows how this approach not only empowers the woman, but also empowers the midwife.

Jean Davies' chapter on being with women who are economically without gives a fascinating insight into the lives and attitudes of women who were financially impoverished and the mechanisms they used to support each other and deal with the daily difficulties in their lives.

Nadine Edwards writes about the negotiations women have to make when they transgress society's expectations by deciding to birth at home, instead of accepting the medical model and book into hospital. The chapter explores how this decision has the potential for generating tensions when the midwife and woman do not share the same philosophy and common values. This chapter highlights the dominance of the medical model, the difficulty women had in obtaining information and the problems the midwives had in balancing the need to support the woman with the demands and directives of the Trust - resulting either in the midwife supporting the woman or undermining her knowledge, trust and confidence.

Margeret Chesney's chapter about providing care amongst Pakistani women and the unexpected difficulties which arose from having a third person involved in the care, namely an interpreter, was absolutely fascinating. Like reading a good novel.

A superb book and one that every midwife should read.

Beverley Beech
AIMS Journal Vol 12 No.4

This lovely book from England is edited by one of the world's great midwife scholars, and contains eleven chapters from expert midwives all giving their view on the relationship between women and their midwives. Themes range from what the midwife 'does' in the relationship to how she 'is'. The setting for birth is explored as an effect on the relationship, and midwifery in more difficult circumstances is showcased through working with women who don't speak English or who are very young. Perspectives from United Kingdom and New Zealand are shared.

Contributors include Nicky Leap, Mavis Kirkham, Sally Pairman, Valerie Fleming, all of who have written extensively on the nature of the relationship and its ability for empowerment of women and midwifery. This is a well-thought collection of scholarly essays that will be very useful for students of midwifery at all levels. At 255 pages, it is a comprehensive exploration of the discipline of midwifery, and its A5 format means it is easy to handle. Feedback from my students suggest it is very well-received by them, giving them a thorough introduction to the basic tenet of our profession - that good midwifery is fundamentally about how we are with women in authentic professional relationships.

Trish David
Senior Lecturer
Monash University, School of Midwifery