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These men are breaking down gender barriers in the health profession each and every day.

According to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (APHRA), fewer than 1% of registered midwives in Australia are male.

The term itself is misleading – it does not limit the role to women only, but rather refers to a person who is ‘with the woman’ while she gives birth.

For those of you who watched Channel Ten’s hit drama Offspring, you’d be familiar with Leo, a male midwife who despite his knowledge and expertise must prove himself in a female-dominated environment.

So would you have a male midwife with you during birth? If your answer is yes, you’re not alone.

The Heightened Emotions Of Pregnant And Labouring Women

There is a belief that male midwives simply wouldn’t be able to cope with the heightened emotions of pregnant and labouring women in the same way that female midwives would.

We think this is completely ridiculous and it turns out that Edith Cowan University’s associate professor of midwifery Sara Bayes agrees with us. Speaking to the ABC, Dr Bayes said, “Certainly the male midwives we’ve brought through our university, and that we have in our state that we know of, have had a very strong view that there is a place for men in that clinical setting. They do intensive training – they’re registered nurses already (and then) they do at least 12 months consistently in a clinical area, so they have an opportunity to make their networks and demonstrate their capability.”

Worries Proved Unfounded

A story published on parenting website essentialbaby.com.au recounts the experience of Becca who was assigned a male midwife for her birth. Despite some initial apprehension, Becca found her midwife to be nothing less than professional and supportive.

“He walked in and made me feel at ease very quickly with his kindness and humour, which continued throughout the whole labour. The room was very relaxed, yet I felt like he was in complete control. He was very calm and kept reminding me what a privilege it was for him to be sharing this amazing day in our life with us.”

What more can you ask for really? As in life, the gender of a person tells you very little about their personality and their capabilities – it’s what women have been trying to prove for nearly a century.

We think any man, or woman for that matter, that takes on this incredibly demanding and challenging job must be a pretty special person.

Would you be happy to have a male midwife look after you during birth? Let us know in the comments. 

 

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  • I really dont care about the sex of the person, their religion, sexual orientation, etc…..all i would care about is that they know what they are doing.

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  • I don’t think you when you are in labour you would be concerned if its a woman or man as long as they get the job done.

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  • I had a C section for my first baby and if I have another I would like to try VBAC and would have no issues with a male midwife. As long as they are competent and professional

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  • Depends on the midwife and if over the pregnancy you have been able to feel comfortable.

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  • I’d have no problem with a male midwife at the birth of my child. I believe they’d have more compassion and empathy

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  • I’d have no problem with it. My gyno was a male and he delivered all 4 of by babies so why not!

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  • I’m currently pregnant and if I ended up with a male midwife, so be it…
    I kind of feel sorry for anyone who has to be down that end of the bed seeing all that go on, lol.
    I always said when I was younger, I couldn’t be with someone who knew more about my “bits” than I did. Lol.
    But sure, if they are good at their job, It doesn’t bother me.

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  • I wanted someone who had been through it before. Having said that if i was given a Male midwife I dont know how i would feel

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  • I had a male midwife when I was first in labour with first baby. Only problem I found was when he was checking how diamanté’s I was his hands were huge which made it rather uncomfortable but other than that I had zero issues with him being male.

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  • If they are trained and professional, I have no issues with that

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  • As long as they are good and professional at their job, why not?

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  • I had a male student midwife sit in on one of my (fully clothed) appointments. I had no issues with it. However, he did seek my husband’s permission not mine. Also when the midwife left the room for a period of time he didn’t say anything. The whole time he just observed from a distance. I see no issue with men being in the profession, male doctors and paramedics deliver babies all the time.


    • If that’s their job then sure, I don’t mind. To be honest, when I gave birth to my son I had no idea who was who and didn’t really care.. whoever could get him out of me is who I wanted lol

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  • The only problem is they need to come up with a better name than midwife, midhusband does not work, I am interested to know where the term mid wife comes from.


    • My belated sister was a midwife.
      The word midwife derives from Old English mid, “with” and wif, “woman”, and thus originally meant “with-woman”, that is, the person who is with the mother (woman) at childbirth, by traditionally being women those who are pregnant. The word is used to refer to midwives regardless of gender.

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  • I got male midwife look after me during the first birth.It was overseas.I don’t mind they were doing good job.

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  • I don’t plan to have more kids , but I would be really comfortable to have a male midwife.I don’t see why not.

    Reply

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