When our speaker this month, via Zoom, Dorothy Cook, finished regaling us with tales from her life as a Midwife she asked members watching from home if they had any questions. There was a stunned silence. It is possible that our members were somewhat overwhelmed with the graphic detail she went into of a female’s anatomy when giving birth!
Nevertheless, Dorothy had many humorous examples of how things do not always go to plan, two involving mistaken identity. Language was a problem when Dorothy thought she was giving a post-delivery examination of a new mother at home, only to discover after some confusion that it was the baby’s grandmother. The new mum was herself lying down for a well-earned rest in another room.
The other incident was when a man accompanying a woman in labour remained and offered much support during the birth and when Dorothy congratulated him, he confessed he was only the taxi-driver. He was anxious to return to his vehicle to clean it up.
Dorothy started her career in Glasgow, and now resides and practices in Wiltshire, but she has worked all over the world including Oman, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, in some of these countries, women are not treated well and the standards of hygiene and comfort surrounding labour are extremely poor.
She also mentioned FGM and this is where we did get quite a graphic explanation as to how this affects women. It was quite distressing to hear. As far as I can see, this subject has been shortlisted for a WI Resolution more than once, but I cannot find any evidence it has ever been selected by members enabling the NFWI to campaign on the issue.
As we all had our microphones muted, we could not hear our fellow members whilst Dorothy was speaking, but for those visible on the screen it was possible to see others laughing at the humorous bits.
More of us joined-in this month, and once Dorothy had left the meeting, there was time for a quick chat amongst those remaining which was good. Some members were kind enough to host others who did not have access to technology and others were away with family for half-term – whilst it is still possible.
To quote one of our members “very, very interesting talk – very WI – interesting, educational and informative”.
Our next meeting is on 26th November and this time we will be “On top of the Greasy Pole” with Mike Broom. Look out for the invitation to join in and if you are in any doubt then please contact a member of our committee for Guidance. If you are new to the village and are interested in finding out what we get up to then there is further information on this website. Look under Clubs and Societies. We are still here to welcome you.
Socially Distanced Walking Group October 2020
