Appal the midwife

On your bikes, white-privileged midwives of old.

Nursing is a demanding profession, and midwifery particularly so. Now there are even more aspects of the calling on which practitioners must get a handle. Below, some of what the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia expects of nurses.

First, the obligation to decry colonialism:

Midwifery practice promotes culturally safe care as a fundamental right for all women and acknowledges the impact of colonisation on the cultural, social and spiritual lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, which has contributed to significant health inequity in Australia. The Midwife standards for practice are to be read in this context.

On bringing little Aborigines into the world:

In relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, cultural safety provides a decolonising model of practice based on dialogue, communication, power sharing and negotiation, and the acknowledgment of white privilege. These actions are a means to challenge racism at personal and institutional levels, and to establish trust in health care encounters.

The politically correct midwife

2.1.  acts to mitigate any discrimination that may be associated with race, age, disability, sexuality, gender orientation, power relations and/or social disadvantage

2.2.  promotes cultural safety in practice that is holistic, free of bias and exposes racism

2.3.  respects that family and community underpin the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Nursing Board documents referencing “white” + “privilege” can be found via this link or the one below.

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