I witnessed it at a homebirth and I recognised it instantly even tho I hadnt seen a picture! Will have a look and see what I can find...

__________________
Josie
StudentMidwife.NET Founder & Director



MidwiferyWorld.NET our sister site for Senior Students and Midwives is now live, tell your mentors and tutors!

Have you got Sara Wickhams Midwifery Best Practice? Lesley Hobbs does a lot of work/literature surrounding it, but thats about the only person I've read the topic from. She also quotes another article in the Lancet,
Byrne, D, L., Edmonds, D, K. (1997) Clinical method for evaluating progress in the first stage of labour. Lancet. 335 (8681) 122. x

__________________


Have you just been offered a place? If so and you want a mentor please post in post this forum (also post here if you would like a mentee)

I have one of those books, hmm. hang on..volume 3!

It has an article regarding the Rhombus of Michaelis (also not seen that either!) a diagram, but no photographs, off to see...

__________________

I have only seen the rhombus of michealis a couple of times, when the pelvic outlet fully opens, Sheila Kitzinger talks about it doesn't she? When she speaks about the cultures and traditions of some tribal cultures where the women go off alone to birth, the tend to lean/squat against a tree, and 'open' their pelvis apparantly it is very prominanant then, she speaks of them being unable or knowing they are not ready to birth until this has occurred, its interesting isn't it? Shame practice such as this isn't introduced more here, we would feel more confident to leave off wouldn't we?

__________________


Have you just been offered a place? If so and you want a mentor please post in post this forum (also post here if you would like a mentee)

I think so, in these developed countries, we have so much technology involved we have power over women, and I do wonder how much this interference affects the natural processes that we don't fully understand?

It makes me sad

__________________

[quote=Tink;21964]I really wish women were given more information about other signs of progress in labour. All woman want to know is the dilatation. I really try to get woman to understand effacement and the process of labour as a whole process.

quote]

couldn't agree more Tink! And here we are harping back to the old chesnut of AN education.
Women (and quite often their partners too) get so hung up on having a VE and knowing their progress that quite often when you walk into the room to introduce yourself they already have just their pants on/sometimes pyjamas/ sometimes nothing! Well, that's one way of getting to know someone i suppose?!

I have seen the purple line once, at a home waterbirth, there it was clear as day, was quite amazing actually. But that really is the only time.

I personally hope that when i qualify i will have the confidence to not stick a woman on a CTG as soon as they have walked through the door, and not do a VE at the drop of a hat. I have this confidence now bizzarly enough, but i guess that's because i am still working closely with my mentor. I feel like i am a child peering through their mothers legs, venturing of on my own sometimes!
x

__________________
Student Mentor Scheme Manager
STMW 2nd year - no, really!

Have you just been offered a place? If so and you want a mentor please post in post this forum (also post here if you would like a mentee)

I don't think luck is the primary factor here, it's got to do with tuning in to the woman and honing your other senses and skills. It's only when you have not got the ability to VE (in this case) regularly that there will be incentive to develop other ways of knowing.

Thanks LE, you make a very good point. Half the time we are so preoccupied with diagrams in our minds to correspond with what we are feeling that we miss the other ways of knowing...

__________________
Josie
StudentMidwife.NET Founder & Director



MidwiferyWorld.NET our sister site for Senior Students and Midwives is now live, tell your mentors and tutors!

I wonder how this is really possible for students training in high-risk units?

__________________

Define high risk? I am curious.