I termed it 'hospitalised' as that term was used to me in conversation with a very experienced midwife. She said midwives can get hospitalised, to me that meant not just the medicalised side but the institutionalised side of things.

Medicalised = practising the medical model of midwifery

Institutionalised = having worked at the same establishment and practising the same way for years, almost unwilling to change because 'thats how we do it here'.

You can argue that you can get institutionalised in a birth centre if you work there long enough and have a closed mind, which is true, however I was looking at two sides of the spectrum.

I was thinking how to me at this point in my training both sides of the spectrum seem daunting, the indepedence of the Independent Midwife allurs me I like the idea of the freedom but the lone responsibility scares me, whereas, the structured side of shifts and certain ways of doing things and fitting in with cliques makes me feel suffocated but I like the support network of other more experienced midwives and staff.

__________________
StudentMidwife.NET Founder & Director

What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?
(George Eliot, 1860)