Olive's profile

Who am I?

They call me organised Olive; I wonder why? My real name though is Olive, and I do wish people would use it. I have been a midwife for 30 years and worked in all areas: community, labour ward, antenatal clinic, the lot. In that time I have seen a lot of changes, so there is very little you can tell me about women giving birth.

My view on normality:

Well!!! What is normality? Do you mean when women go into labour- "nature's way" and then give birth with no interference? I have seen a lot of that in my time, although these days most of them think that the babies should arrive on their due date. This is when they end up with forceps, ventouse or even caesarean. The way things are going, we could be defining all births as normal. If you ask me, I think midwives need to spend the time with women and talk to them about labour; when it starts, what it means and all that business we used to do many moons ago.

We need to work with women, discuss "birth" and its meaning, and support them like we used to do in the olden days, not just hurry things along. And if we don't, those people who talk about safety all the time will take control. When, really to be pregnant and give birth is the most natural thing a woman can do. Who am I to tell them this?

Share my experience:

I like everything to be well organised. Having a routine on the labour ward helps me to get through the paperwork and make sure the rooms are all stocked and the monitors working. Put away those new-fangled rocking chairs and birth balls in the sluice, out of harms way. Let's face it, you need space in the delivery rooms for essential equipment. I also like to keep an eye on those young midwives who spend too much time waiting around for "normal births". Get them doing the important things and make sure they can all scrub for a caesarean section. Time is precious.