What motivated me to write this today? On Facebook, one of my birthy friends had this quote by Winston Churchill today as her status:
“You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
Now, many of us know that the birth profession is the compassionate and deeply moving care of expectant and new parents, embarking on their journey into parenthood. With the wisdom of our sage femme mentors and the best evidence-based maternity care (sorry, couldn't help myself there), we lovingly share this wisdom and give of ourselves. In the quiet moments before birth, we witness that spiritual awe, that divine moment, as our hearts weep with nurturing, joy and wonderment.
And the next morning, we throw miscellaneous colleagues under the bus.
Why do some of us do this? Is it our gender?
Is it more personal than that?
Do some of our colleagues "deserve" it?
Are our colleagues really our enemies?
Do you feel more empowered and righteous by doing it?
It is truly a conundrum to espouse compassion and caring and loving and nurturing, and then destroy someone's feelings of self-worth for a time, upset their families and break their hearts. Contrary to Winston's supposition that the Study of Bus Chassis might only be caused by standing up for something correct, some studies occur for seemingly no apparent reason...at least to the throw-ee.
If we spent the same time and energy of throwing someone under the bus, and applied it to a joint effort to honest truth telling about pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding, our goals and mission would be in a much better place. We would be more efficient in guiding women in their quest for their birth experience.
And maybe, just maybe, none of us would be eligible for a PhD in the Study of Bus Chassis due to being thrown under the bus.
(Author's note: I will probably be thrown under the bus for writing this blog entry! LOL!!)
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