a male midwife??? :S

Specialties CNM

Published

hi everyone..

i was just wondering whether its true that a male become a midwife?? :specs:

appantly they can...but doesnt that defeat the purpose of being a midWIFE?

They should be called midhusbands :chuckle

cheers

Wow, what an epiphany! :)

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Wow, what an epiphany! :)

;)

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Part of it is what texas-rn-fnp wrote, but the majority of it unfortunately, is just the traditional stereotype. It's pretty accepted that male patients don't mind or even prefer female nurses (whether it's true or not) but the opposite is not true.

I also believe that some pure paranoia is involved here as well.

We see the sensationalized news coverage of some psycho male nurse or aide who raped a patient and suddenly some women are at the clinic/hospital on guard looking suspiciously at the male staff thinking that they are waiting to get into a room alone with them and hurt them.

No different than family members seeing news coverage of nursing home abuse and looking at the staff differently with suspicion after seeing it on TV.

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Yes, the media (news, especially) loves to portray us as a broken gender mostly by promoting us as sexual predators. The incidence of female sexual predators (which is rising) is handled very differently even in the courts.

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I'm a male BSN student (starting clinicals in August of this year.) I work as an aide in abortion-care now (which is a very female dominated field) and have aspirations to work L&D and go to midwifery school. I anticipate some comments or questions concerning my gender, but it won't be anything I'm not used to after working in an abortion clinic.

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My I had my first child at 20 years old, that was thirty five years ago. My labor nurse was a male nurse and he was the absolute best of them all. I had a very long and painful labor that cumulated in a C Section after 24 hrs. I had the drugs that they say make you forget, but I remember alot, writhing and screaming etc. It was said that I even went as far as being combative but thankfully I don't recall that. He was supportive the entire time, but some of the other old biddies were not in the least supportive.

It is something I will never forget. I say Yes to the male midwives. Now thirty five years later I am in the first semester of an AND program!!!!

Margaret

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Specializes in Med/Surg ICU.

To the original post...I think it would be great to have more midwife's. I am a BSN and had a wonderful time in my L&D rotation, however, It was a difficult time because of the preconceptions. I guess this is just the times...

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I guess I'm kinda old fashioned...but I just think that L&D is a "womans work". I have no doubt in my mind that men could be just as good OB nurses as any female can... I've never met any male OB nurses though!!...I'd give it a chance...

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I think it's wonderful if a man wants to be a midwife, just try to be respectful of those women who aren't ok with that (even if you don't understand it, which clearly many of you don't). I read the previous responses and none of them succinctly stated why I (and most other women I know) wouldn't want a male for a midwife.

I don't even understand the comparison between giving birth and having a catheter inserted. It's really almost comical. Giving birth is so much more.. personal. Not that having a catheter inserted isn't personal at all, but they're on two totally diffferent playing fields. And that lack of understanding really shows what I'm trying to point out here. When I'm giving birth, I like to be with women who have birthed before. There is a connection there, an understanding. Giving birth is a huge event in a woman's life. (I'm guessing that the man with the catheter won't look back on that day for the rest of his life with love and amazement!) and every woman has the right to shape that event to be what she'd like it to be.

I know some women aren't bothered by it, and I think that's great.. but it's necessary to understand and try to empathize with those who do.

If this really seems like such a foreign concept to you, pick up any book on midwives.. read up on the history. If you'd like suggestions, I'd be happy to provide a few titles. Read what women have written about what birth means to them. And then come to your conclusions about why so many feel that way.

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I had two beautiful deliveries today with a male midwife whom I respect and admire. I'll take a CNM, male or female , over a MD delivery any day :)

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Specializes in L&D,Wound Care, SNC.

I had a male midwife deliver my daughter. He was so WONDERFUL! I wouldn't change a thing about her birth.

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Wow, what an epiphany! :)

Yes, and he hates all the terms that people have tried to use on him, especially midhusband. But he doesn't mind being called a Delivery Boy.

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