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About
Us
All rights reserved Jacki Ames - Photographer
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Proud
to be a midwife free from constraints imposed, Expanding
my wings on a journey
'with woman' so strong, Protecting her, serving her, empowering her. Awakened by the innate - intuition, of the wisdom of the mother and midwife within. (robyn thompson 2002)
Robyn Thompson Return to Top "I can't remember how she had heard of me but she'd already had one child in the hospital and didn't want to do it again. All her three births with me have been in her own home. The most recent one, Emma, has just turned one. Now she's got four daughters. She had antenatal depression with the last two so we've had quite a bit of contact since then, as I've been helping her through it. Emma was ten pounds three, and you would think that one was the hardest one for her but I think it was actually easier because she birthed through the water. Plus she might have felt a bit more secure. Birthing for Pauline was just a pretty natural event, though some women don't actually see it like that. She handled it very well. She was in a very big pool at home. Just set up in the kitchen, in the eating area. We had to move the table. The pool was there for her to be in to help her handle the pain leading up to the delivery but, when it came time, Pauline just didn't want to get out. She'd had the other two in the lounge room leaning forward, just kneeling. The baby was in breech position for a while but it just turned around. It wasn't any drama. In the past six months, when the weather was warmer, we used to walk along the beach. It was my idea because she was feeling a little bit stressed and a good way to relieve stress is to get physical. We did it very early in the morning. It was a convenient time for her husband, Matthew, to be home with the kids anyway, and it was nice because we'd walk for about an hour and we'd get to see the sun come up. That's always a positive way to start the day. When the weather gets better, we'll probably start it again. I invited Pauline to do patchwork as a relaxation-type thing and to get together with other women. She sews beautifully, so she can use that skill. She came until Emma's birth and then had only a very short break before she came back with Emma and breastfed her in class. Then her husband started minding Emma and now Pauline stays longer. I haven't gone walking with other women or done anything like that. With Pauline, it just happened that way. The times she had depression probably pushed our friendship closer but there was no one birth that made us bond more than another one. All her births were special. I think I was able to respond when the need was there. I'm not sure if Pauline has ever viewed me in a motherly capacity. I think she felt secure with me; she needed some support from time to time and I was able to provide that for her. She was estranged from her mother in some ways, both emotionally and geographically because her mother is in Tasmania, but at the last birth with Emma, her mother was present. I think that helped cement their relationship which, in turn, may have changed the way Pauline viewed her relationship with me. I would say we regard it as an equal friendship now. It's a woman-to-woman role to support and be there for each other. I think it has become that and will remain that way. She's talked about becoming a midwife and I think that's the way she should go because I think Pauline would make a wonderful midwife." Pauline Francavilla Return to Top "I'm on my own over here as far as family's concerned and, when I have been very upset or if something's happened with the children, which a couple of times it has, then it was Robyn who I used to ring to put my feet back on the ground. I had my first daughter, Olivia, in hospital. Natasha was the first with Robyn, then Hannah, and Emma was the third. I had a rough time during my fourth pregnancy, with depression, and Robyn was really supportive during that time. I'd had depression since Hannah but I just hadn't let anyone know. Robyn didn't know because I didn't tell anyone. She'd know that I was having bad days but she didn't quite realise how bad I was. Women draw strength from her when she's around. She allows you to just experience it and she'll constantly soothe you through the difficult parts. She snaps you back out if you lose it, just so you can re-focus. My last child was a very large child and she came out with the force of a freight train. At one point I screamed as she was about to enter the world and Robyn quietly and commandingly - not sharply - said, 'Pauline, I need you here', and it brought me back. Robyn and I do patchwork together now once a week. Having sewn all my life, she thought the patchwork would be something I would enjoy. She also thought it would be good emotionally to have something for myself and to get out of the house. Five or six weeks before I had Emma, she said, 'Come on, come to patchwork with me on Tuesday' and I said, 'All right.' To be honest, Tuesdays are really my lifeline. If Robyn, for some reason, isn't there, if she's been called out to a birth or if she's got other commitments, it changes the dynamic for me at the group. The whole group is lovely but it's more special when Robyn's there. We used to walk together in the mornings when the weather was warmer. I'd go down to her place at Altona and we'd walk and watch the sunrise together. It was a nice thing to do but it got a bit hard with the kids. I think we'll take it up again when I pull my finger out and turn up on her doorstep. I would dearly love to do midwifery and there is probably a little secret hope that, one day, I could do something with Robyn. She's aware of that, I think. Having already been a nurse and then becoming a bit disgruntled with the hospital system, and then seeing someone like Robyn who was working independently, has inspired me. I'd say I know a fair bit about what goes on with Robyn. Perhaps because of her maturity and wisdom, she doesn't necessarily have to offload as much as I do. We probably have had a lot of similar experiences growing into adults. There's a lot of differences between us, too, but there are definitely many things we click on. I don't think I'm going to have any more children. If I did think about having another child and Robyn was still practising, it would probably have to be different. I would go to Robyn without hesitation, but I think she seems to get so exhausted emotionally when she is close to someone that I don't know if I'd want to put her through it again." Publication: The Sunday Age Publication date: 2-8-98
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