A Drying Oasis

I happened to be near their office, yesterday, so I popped in and visited two of my favorite midwives in town. It had been quite a while since I had seen them, but I know their practice is very busy. It just so happens my documentary maker couple was there being seen! I got to give them both hugs and then let them get on with their appointment. I'm so glad they landed with these particular midwives. I had encouraged them to change caregivers because they were literally seeing the worst guy in town (I don't know how the hell that guy keeps getting clients). While one of the midwives saw the couple, I chatted briefly with the other. She told me the hospital they work at was remodeling and that they might lose their special space, at least for a time. These two smart ladies work in a typical hospital facility, but they had been able to carve out their own special room in it with things like a queen size bed and a birthing tub for deliveries- quite a coup in these parts. Now with remodeling underway, the hospital administration has not committed to preserving a midwife room. The bastards. Makes me want to write a letter, and send a copy to the city newspaper. Nothing like a little bit of bad press to make you rethink your priorities. I left feeling a wee bit down. I hate to see their hardwork undone. They're little room was an oasis in the desert. I hate that the hospitals just arbitrarily give and take away without concern about the desires of their birthing clientele. LDRPs are actually decreasing in this city. Everyone is returning to LDRs with separate postpartum units! It's a more effecient system for hospitals, but it does not represent the most satisfactory care for women. Just another sign that women are losing the battle for woman-centered birth.