Midwives' words on love

While we were thinking about and researching the ideas for the book Love and Midwifery, we talked to midwives about love and asked for their perspectives. We have also talked to many midwives at various events and conferences this year, in UK and internationally.(See our Events page). It has been striking that nearly all the midwives we spoke with said that they could recognise the love in midwifery BUT that they had never had a chance to talk about it. We were both surprised and moved to see that some were emotional, even tearful, as they started to reflect on and talk about this. There has never been a space to talk about this aspect of our practice, so we want to create one.

Our experience talking to midwives about the book and hearing what they have told us, has made us want to document this important part of midwifery. We want to document midwives' thoughts and experiences of recognising and feeling proud of the love in their work. It is not a research project as such, but a matter of recording in some way the fact that many midwives do experience this in their own individual ways. We want to curate a collection of midwives' authentic words on this topic - we see it as building an important professional archive. We want to be able to share it (at least some of it) with others one day; this might include sharing with midwives in educational settings, published articles, conference papers and/or a book. Your contribution would be much appreciated.

We are not looking for an academic piece of work but simply your own account of your experiences and/or thoughts on this topic. It can be a short piece with just a few sentences or something longer if you have more to say.

If you would like to contribute to this collection please contact us

Email diane@loveandmidwifery.com

Please also state whether you would be happy for us to archive and eventually share your words with others. Also, whether you would want it to be anonymous or your name included.

Diane Menage and Jenny Patterson