Wednesday, May 5th marked this year’s International Day of the Midwife, a 24-hour global activism event designed to bring midwives together to discuss ways to raise awareness of the health, safety, and socioeconomic benefits to the midwifery model of care. This year, much of the day’s events focused on the various new social media opportunities to bring midwives online, and the ways these birth professionals can use these tools to reach new consumers while networking with each other. Sarah Stewart, a midwife and social media consultant from New Zealand, facilitated this year’s virtual conference.
Says Sarah on her blog:
“Within a few minutes it became obvious that the conference was going to be a great success, especially compared to last year’s conference – last year we had an average of 6 participants per session – this year we had an average of 50 participants per session. So what made the difference to the success of this event this year?”
She tells us that a combination of Facebook, Twitter, and an effective email campaign, along with blogging and networking, all worked to multiply the number of this year’s participants. Using an Elluminate meeting room, speakers from across the world gave presentations in various languages on maternal and fetal health issues. To illustrate the issues visually, participants submitted photos of midwives at work in some of the poorest nations through a special Flickr account.
Activism lives comfortably online in an age where an entire campaign is only a tweet away, however, some feel that not enough midwives have embraced the technology.
Amy Romano, Managing Editor of Lamaze International’s Science & Sensibility blog, has made it her mission to bring more midwives into the social media mix. Amy, along with Mary Murry, CNM and Co-Editor in Chief of the Pregnancy & You blog at TheMayoClinic.com, recently formed a panel to speak at the June conference for the American College of Nurse Midwives on social media’s place in the midwifery world. With more consumers taking to the internet in search of alternative health care options, midwives possess a unique opportunity to insert, and amplify, their voice within the larger discussion.
Amie Newman, Managing Editor for RHRealityCheck.org, points out the various openings that midwives have to be a part of the healthcare dialogue amongst women. Amie writes,
“The truth is that more women than men are using social media, and when they are online, they’re often searching for health information. But also, and maybe just as importantly, women use the internet to share personal stories, to trade experiences about their lives: their pregnancies, their miscarriages, abortions, childbirth. And this builds bridges, these stories help create the most amazing, fertile atmosphere for building a more expansive women’s health movement – a movement that links together the full range of our reproductive and sexual health experiences.”
With more consumers turning to Dr. Google for the answers to their health questions, and more women creating mother-to-mother support systems through blogs and Twitter, the time is right for maternal health advocates to reach these new e-patients. Women want options, choices, and support for their decisions, and this is one area the where the midwives can win big. If this year’s participation in International Day of the Midwife is any indication of the rise in utilization of social networking amongst birth professionals, the future looks bright for grassroots social change in the reproductive justice community.
{photo credit: Sarah M. Stewart}
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Midwifery is a beautiful and sacred profession, that was how my midwife felt about it anyway. It is wonderful to see that technology is going to help bring it more into the mainstream and make it accessible to everyone. Excellent article!
Hi Gina, thanks the write up. I was thrilled at the success of the VIDM…look forward to seeing more midwives (and mums) come on board.
The thing I have noticed over the last few months is how much consumers (pregnant women and new mums) are using social media for campaigns especially against C/section and for normal birth. And it seems to be led by women in the USA. And I am sure Amy would agree that this is one of the main things that midwives cannot ignore
This is absolutely essential to the turning of the tide in maternity care. Great article, Gina!
Thrilled to read this and to know how successful the conference/day turned out to be! This is a powerful time for midwifery and related issues. I am inspired, always, by the work midwives do but am also inspired by the work being done to bring the topic to millions of women who will benefit from the information! Thanks for writing this, Gina.
Thank you Gina. You have named midwives and others working to bring more midwives into the eHealth delivery space. These health professionals are going mighty work in up skilling midwives and bringing them online and into the dynamic space of the Internet with Google search engine, and other online programs which are great resources. Women mostly use these resources independently from midwifery care. I wonder why, when information and communication tools offer many different possibilities. Admittedly there are fish-hooks such as privacy issues but many women seem happy to participate in forums. Of course health professionals are subject to more stringent privacy standards. When you consider the creative ways people now use Twitter, there are still endless possibilities.
I attended several sessions and found the whole day to be highly motivating. I found it really interesting to learn that more women than men are using social media. It’s certainly true in my house; even though my hubby is the techie I’m the one spending hours researching and communicating online. While I’m not a midwife (yet) I do post to facebook, twitter and my blog with advocacy in mind. It was online that I began my education in the differences btw the midwifery and medical models of birth and there that I try to educate other women. I do it so that they know they have choices. Thanks for bringing this issue to even more women!
At a time when midwifery (especially in the USA) is being attacked and even out-lawed in places, utilising social media is essential to increase awareness and choices so that more mothers demand the appropriate care during their pregnancy and birth. Thanks for raising this issue, Gina.
I’m only just now in the “planning” stages for my first pregnancy, which is to say we’ve decided to start trying. I’m appreciative for your social media-outreach, because everyone in my immediate circle, from mom to sisters to aunts to friends, has had a normal hospital birth, and so the people I would normally learn from are not available to me as resources. Thanks for your hard work.
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