View Full Version : Would you object if the Midwife was Male
Had an interesting evening in the chatroom where some young mothers were discussing past and up and coming births.
And the thought struck me.....would they object in this current shortage of Registered Midwives, to their Midwife being a male
porshiepoo
21-Feb-10, 13:27
Had an interesting evening in the chatroom where some young mothers were discussing past and up and coming births.
And the thought struck me.....would they object in this current shortage of Registered Midwives, to their Midwife being a male
When I think about it I would. However at the actual time of birth our only concern is pushing something the size of a pineapple out of something the size of a pea and believe me, I couldn't have cared less if the midwife had been Hannibal Lecter himself as long as he could help get them out! :lol:
We could have sold tickets at the birth of my two anyway. The room was full of students who had never witnessed a twin birth before. Thinking about it now I'm horrified but at the time I could have cared less who was there.
I don't expect to need the services of a midwife again (barring a miracle ;)) but when my three babies were born all the thoughts of modesty, dignity or embarrassment I'd expected to feel just evaporated. All I wanted was the safe delivery of a healthy baby....preferably without too much pain!
Although I had female midwives each time, my own male GP was in attendance as well for the actual deliveries. I was just glad to see his familiar face and at the second and third birth -well, he wasn't going to see anything new!:lol:
Much more recently I had plenty of experiences of male nurses caring for me in the ICU, which is as intimate as you can get really, and again I couldn't have cared less whether they were male or female, so long as they were kind and professional. Some of the older ladies in hospital did ask for female nurses though and I can understand and respect their views.
ShelleyCowie
21-Feb-10, 13:46
Had an interesting evening in the chatroom where some young mothers were discussing past and up and coming births.
And the thought struck me.....would they object in this current shortage of Registered Midwives, to their Midwife being a male
Haha poor Golach. You loved the conversation though :lol:
I wouldnt object to a male midwife. Whats the point? They are there to help you same as a female midwife. And anyways your obsetotrician is male.
onecalledk
21-Feb-10, 14:41
have to agree that I couldnt have cared less if the midwife was male or female when I gave birth. I had complications anyway so it went from one midwife to a room full of people in gowns! Couldnt have cared other than the safe delivery of my son ......
Most consultants are male so why would it be a bother if the midwife was male ? albeit "midwife" inferes female so perhaps a more generic term?
K
When push comes to shove (literally) I couldnt have cared less if my midwife was male, female or a green 3 headed monster with pink spots!
As long as the gas and air didnt run out and they hurried up with the pethidene :D
cuddlepop
21-Feb-10, 15:39
Couldnt have cared less as long as they helped with the delivery.:D
Poor midwife had to ask the ambulance driver too assist her when I had my youngest in the back of the ambulance and she was born at the same time as this guy too,:eek:
One of the midwives may have been male for all I know. Just give me more diamorphine and I'll be happy. :lol:
annemarie482
21-Feb-10, 15:48
lol golach!
what have i started hee hee
i wouldn't really mind if they were male or female.
i'd prefer not to know them tho!
my eldest was born in raigmore, perfect!
but i always blush when i see the wick midwife that delivered my youngest, although i'm long forgotten to her!:lol:
Why should it matter what gender the midwife is? They are trained professionals, who care about their work and patients, so to ask for a female midwife is to doubt the professionalism of a male.
I had cause to visit my local health centre a few years ago; I didn't care that I was lying naked from the waist down with two doctors and two nurses standing over me, I just wanted my problem sorted. Dignity was the least of my concerns.
It wouldnt of bothered me in the slightest.
Wonder why most midwives are female though?? I have seen male midwives before but it isnt common:confused
I couldnt have put it any better ha ha ha
Bottom line I couldnt have cared less either for the reason Porshiepoo stated lol x:lol:[lol]
When I think about it I would. However at the actual time of birth our only concern is pushing something the size of a pineapple out of something the size of a pea and believe me, I couldn't have cared less if the midwife had been Hannibal Lecter himself as long as he could help get them out! :lol:
We could have sold tickets at the birth of my two anyway. The room was full of students who had never witnessed a twin birth before. Thinking about it now I'm horrified but at the time I could have cared less who was there.
I had my 5th baby in Raigmore due to complications. At the birth there was 10 in the room including my OH a mix of male and female midwifes/ Docs. Wasn't bothered in the slightest but don't know if that was just a mixture of experience and diamorphine!
I had my 5th baby in Raigmore due to complications. At the birth there was 10 in the room including my OH a mix of male and female midwifes/ Docs. Wasn't bothered in the slightest but don't know if that was just a mixture of experience and diamorphine!
I had the same experience with my first birth - a room full of male and female midwives/docs/anaesthetists, in theatre and I wasn't really bothered - just wanted her to come out!! But with my second birth (and last ;)) there was only a midwife and one student present, and yes - he was male! He helped deliver my youngest and it was his first chance to really get involvrd, so I felt glad I'd given him that opportunity. And I wasn't at all bothered about him being male as opposed to female. When you're pregnant your dignity goes out the window.....:eek:
As i have yet to give birth i have to say the thought any man seeing me naked other than my partner does make me shy away. I'm sure i won't care during labour though!
I think as long as the midwife either male of female will listen to me and not just diss my concerns then i'm happy.
I'm not happy with my current midwife as she has brushed aside any concerns i have had and has pratically told me that i don't know my own body. i've complained about her and am getting another midwife.
Whitewater
21-Feb-10, 22:56
It would be very strange indeed if I ever required a midwife, but if I everdid I don't think it would matter if it was a male or female midwife, I asked Mrs Whitewater and it wouldn't matter to her either.
oldmarine
21-Feb-10, 23:05
Had an interesting evening in the chatroom where some young mothers were discussing past and up and coming births.
And the thought struck me.....would they object in this current shortage of Registered Midwives, to their Midwife being a male
We have never had a Midwife attend for any of our children, but if we did it would make no difference whether male of female. I remember prior to my birth in 1925 most births occured in the home with no professionals present.
Like Angela I don't expect to do it again but both mine were in hospital and I would have much preferred a home birth with a midwife - male or female. If having male midwives meant there were more of them and more home births I think everyone would be happier. It's not an illness so why go to hospital unless complications are expected?
ShelleyCowie
22-Feb-10, 00:31
Like Angela I don't expect to do it again but both mine were in hospital and I would have much preferred a home birth with a midwife - male or female. If having male midwives meant there were more of them and more home births I think everyone would be happier. It's not an illness so why go to hospital unless complications are expected?
I would have loved a home birth with Athrun, but i did have many complications. And apparently for your first it isnt an option to them anyways. :roll: they tell you that you have no choice but to go into hospital.
With the next will just do the same as before. C-Section! No it is not the easy way out but at least the hospital wont muck me around like they did with athrun. And it will be the last!!! [lol]
And there was 3 males in Theatre when i had my section....i was totally "uncovered" lol. Dont care, i just wanted him out.
I put "not" in bold because after i had athrun some people told me i took the easy way out. It really wasnt. Just because i didnt push doesnt mean it was any easier. I did feel labour but not as i was meant to, never felt a single contraction even though they were happening. :confused Weird....yes!
ive had one natural birth and two sections.
and i can tell you that i did not care who was in the room at the time of birth!
but if you think about it most ob/gyns are male anyway. and we dont think twice about them seeing our bits.. so at the end of the day.. nahh coulnt care less who sees me
achingale
22-Feb-10, 10:37
As so many have said, you get to the stage you could not care less who was in the room! A bunch of midwife students poked their heads in when I was giving birth and prompty left. I think I scared them off with my screaming!! You lose all sense of dignity so no, it certainly would not have bothered me as I pushed out the watermelon through the hole the size of a lemon. And no, I never forgot that pain...ouch. End result was well and truly worth it though.
when your having a baby you leave your dignity at the door haha so really it doesnt matter when i had my son i had a male present.... he was some kind of doctor and i wasn't bothered the only thing i cared about was getting the baby out!! haha
I'm quite surprised at the way the poll is going. I have never been comfortable with the thought of male midwives. Giving birth is such a mind blowing experience for us, but for the professionals I expect its fairly clinical, a job to be done. Its the months of care, very intimate care at times, during pregnancy and after birth that I would find more difficult to accept. I know male obstetricians are, or should be, chaperoned at every examination. This should apply to male midwives too, so they could never really work on their own. I know too that some female midwives can be a bit dismissive,especially the ones without family themselves, but I would much rather discuss personal and intimate details with them rather than a "thirty something" young man. Midwifery and certainly the attitudes of young women has changed dramatically over the years, so I'm quite glad my baby days are over. All I'll have to look forward to are the conditions created by having babies:eek: Fingers crossed there will be a shortage of male nurses if that ever happens!
But if there is any need to have anyone "look down below" when you are pregnant in my experiance of having 3 kids it is usually the obs or gynae doc who is male!
I also feel that men who choose the proffession of midwifery must have a caring manner, to choose it in the first place!
They will have to be at least as good as their female counterparts or the patient will request not to see them (as you can with any medical staff).
GHeck if I was to do the whole pregnancy thing again .... god knows who would see my bits!... the girls just missed the birth of their baby brother by minutes... hubby missed it too as he was putting the girls in grandads car!
It might be ambulance personnel...ordinary or dounreay.....or half the population of caithness on the watten wick road.....as I do fast babies!
Im not doing it again though!
But if there is any need to have anyone "look down below" when you are pregnant in my experiance of having 3 kids it is usually the obs or gynae doc who is male!
I also feel that men who choose the proffession of midwifery must have a caring manner, to choose it in the first place!
They will have to be at least as good as their female counterparts or the patient will request not to see them (as you can with any medical staff).
GHeck if I was to do the whole pregnancy thing again .... god knows who would see my bits!... the girls just missed the birth of their baby brother by minutes... hubby missed it too as he was putting the girls in grandads car!
It might be ambulance personnel...ordinary or dounreay.....or half the population of caithness on the watten wick road.....as I do fast babies!
Im not doing it again though!
I would like a fast dleivery ;) One of my friends recently had her first child and she was in labour for 36 hours :eek:
I'm quite surprised at the way the poll is going. I have never been comfortable with the thought of male midwives. Giving birth is such a mind blowing experience for us, but for the professionals I expect its fairly clinical, a job to be done. Its the months of care, very intimate care at times, during pregnancy and after birth that I would find more difficult to accept. I know male obstetricians are, or should be, chaperoned at every examination. This should apply to male midwives too, so they could never really work on their own. I know too that some female midwives can be a bit dismissive,especially the ones without family themselves, but I would much rather discuss personal and intimate details with them rather than a "thirty something" young man. Midwifery and certainly the attitudes of young women has changed dramatically over the years, so I'm quite glad my baby days are over. All I'll have to look forward to are the conditions created by having babies:eek: Fingers crossed there will be a shortage of male nurses if that ever happens!
I am with you on this.
I cannot see how it would work when a male midhusband would have to be chaperoned at all times.
now heres a question.. are there many male midwives?
ive never met one.. and why is it that a male doctor/nurse what ever has to have a female nurse present but a female dosent?
if its good for the goose its good for the gander i would say.
its not a case of only men are perverts and only men need the extra insurance that there should be two people in the room when an exam is going on.
I think it's a well known fact that there is a great deal of difference between the goose and the gander. That's why these measures are in place and should be rigorously applied.
spaceddaisy
22-Feb-10, 19:46
I have a feeeling that if I have children the only thing I'm going to be concerned about is getting him or her out of me- I don't care who the person with teh drugs is, as long as they're nice to me.
http://www.nmc-uk.org/aDisplayDocument.aspx?DocumentID=5730
This is a statistical analysis of the NMC membership. On 31st March 2008, 0.37% of the 35,305 midwives in the UK were male. By comparison, on 31st March 2008, 10.69% of the 676,547 nurses and midwives (combined register) in the UK were male.
Cedric Farthsbottom III
22-Feb-10, 21:29
Mind the lassies at Caithness General tending to my better half.Brilliant job they did.The midwife,a female,asked if I wanted to see the crowning.I had a wee peekers.Looked at the midwife,we both looked at each other went awwwww......both looked at the better half and went awwwwwwwwwww.
Now if it had been a male midwife,I would have looked at the crowning and said ye know whit mate ye no think that looks like a gobstopper poking oot aw somebodys gob.[lol][lol]
As long as they are professionals who cares if they are male.
My cousin lucked out on her latest birth, got 4 hunky firemen to deliver baby number 2.
My sister-in-law has been through labour 4 times and she always maintains that the best midwife she ever had was a male.
Is a male midwife any different to a female midwife who hasn't experienced labour/birth herself?
Having spent 55 hours in labour myself, I couldn't have cared less if the midwives were male!
I find it quite disturbing that a male midwife has to be chaperoned. I see it as his preofessionalism is being doubted, being thought of as a possible pervert. I'm pretty sure after having dealt with umpteen births then the last thing on a male midwifes mind is erotica, and I'm also sure he'd need to be a good actor to hide his ulterior motives.
If you work in a bakery you get sick of see-ing cakes. ;)
I find it quite disturbing that a male midwife has to be chaperoned. I see it as his preofessionalism is being doubted, being thought of as a possible pervert. I'm pretty sure after having dealt with umpteen births then the last thing on a male midwifes mind is erotica, and I'm also sure he'd need to be a good actor to hide his ulterior motives.
If you work in a bakery you get sick of see-ing cakes. ;)
This practice is to protect the doctor mid husband etc as well as the patient.
I find it quite disturbing that a male midwife has to be chaperoned. I see it as his preofessionalism is being doubted, being thought of as a possible pervert. I'm pretty sure after having dealt with umpteen births then the last thing on a male midwifes mind is erotica, and I'm also sure he'd need to be a good actor to hide his ulterior motives.
If you work in a bakery you get sick of see-ing cakes. ;)
Actually delivering babies is a small part of the midwives' duties. There's a whole range of care and advice to be given to the pregnant mum in the months before delivery and in the days after.
You say it all by mentioning "erotica" and "ulterior motives" I was thinking more about the embarrassment of discussing personal intimate details and asking advice of a sensitive nature from a young man.
I find it quite disturbing that a male midwife has to be chaperoned. I see it as his preofessionalism is being doubted, being thought of as a possible pervert. I'm pretty sure after having dealt with umpteen births then the last thing on a male midwifes mind is erotica, and I'm also sure he'd need to be a good actor to hide his ulterior motives.
If you work in a bakery you get sick of see-ing cakes. ;)
The other question is do gay female midwives need a chaperone? Also, do male doctors need a chaperone to examine male patients?
Re the last sentence, absolutely agree. Medical staff examine 'bits' every day - they aren't anymore interested in my bits than anyone elses. 99% of the maternity ward showed their bits in order to get an appointment there in the first place (wink-wink)!
oldmarine
24-Feb-10, 14:59
The other question is do gay female midwives need a chaperone? Also, do male doctors need a chaperone to examine male patients?
Re the last sentence, absolutely agree. Medical staff examine 'bits' every day - they aren't anymore interested in my bits than anyone elses. 99% of the maternity ward showed their bits in order to get an appointment there in the first place (wink-wink)!
Sounds like you got your act together and can see things that are not important. The important thing is: for that precious bundle to be delivered without any complications to the child or the mother.
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