International Confederation of Midwives

July 14-16th

Well, I have been in Australia for almost 24 hours now! (Watching the sun come up right now because my body thinks it is really last night at home) Had a good solid 6 hours sleep and feeling MUCH better!  

Getting here was pretty much a nightmare! Fred and I were sent to the wrong terminal in LA. When we got to the right terminal, the lines were unbelievable! Even though we had a 2 hour layover, by the time we got to the front of the line, we had not only not made it to check-in within the required 90 minutes prior to departure, but it was also almost time for the plane to depart!

The first agent at check-in told us that meant we had missed our flight and plan to stay in LA that night! When I begged and pleaded, a supervisor stepped in and talked to someone on her walkie-talkie and then told us to RUN (saying to us, "When I say run I mean RUN.") to the gate!   We RAN as fast as two old people can...perhaps faster...and though the gate was closed, they let us in.

As they led us to our seats, huffing and puffing, with shoes still untied from racing through security, we looked around and OMG...they had seated us in FIRST CLASS!

They greeted us with champagne or orange juice, hot nuts and a warm wet washcloth to refresh ourselves!

Our seats were amazing with lumbar support, adjustable headrests, massagers built-in, a fully adjustable footrest and enough space in front of us and behind us to make the seat almost as flat as a bed for sleeping. We each had our own private TV and telephone, blankets and pillows and our own personal zippered bag with necessities - toothbrush and toothpaste, slipper socks, sleeping mask, earplugs, lotion, tissues, etc)!

There were four movies we could choose from and they immediately began serving a wonderful dinner (I had salad, filet mignon, mashed red potatoes, spinach, garlic bread and chocolate cheesecake ....plus wines!) Yum  

We slept quite well. Our seats were the first row with about 12 feet of space in front of us. During the night, they set up a table in that space with snacks...fresh fruits, sandwiches, chips, nuts, etc. When we woke up, they brought us more hot washcloths and orange juice and croissants followed by a delicious breakfast of cheese omelet, potatoes, fruit salad, sausage, and ham ...yummy! 

Good thing, too, because as we disembarked in Sydney, things went downhill!

The first part of customs was not too bad, but then our luggage never showed up (I later found out it was still in LA and figured out that when we did not check-in in LA in time, they did not load our luggage in case they may have been loaded with a bomb and we were trying to avoid traveling with the bomb!)

This was terrible news and by the time we got that handled, we had missed our flight from Sydney to Brisbane! Instead of arriving in Brisbane at 9:30 a.m....it was 11:30! My dear friend, Debbie met us and we immediately went to fight with the car rental people who are insisting they will not refund our money if we return the unacceptable campervan early...we are still fighting that battle!  

Then we called United to discover our luggage would not arrive before Sunday afternoon at the earliest (when I have to be at the first meeting - ICM Regional Meeting) So we decided to go buy some clean clothes....and a few things to hold us over until the next day. We got to the store at 4:55 p.m. and were told the store closed in 5 minutes! (Not just THIS store...but ALL stores, even groceries, in Brisbane!) Scrap that plan!

So dear, sweet Debbie drove us back to the hotel and loaned me some scrubs and a sweater/jacket and I took a long hot soak in the tub and we washed our traveling clothes in the hotel laundry while we ate dinner in the hotel! 

About 9 pm, Diane arrived in our room....seems she had been there all day, wondering where we were...but the hotel staff did not give us the message! By 10 pm I was whipped and decided I had had enough for one day! Hopefully, today will be better.

Gregory Terrace Best Western Hotel

Sunday, July 17th

We finally hooked up with Diane and her family and Diane moved all her luggage into our room.

We spent the day visiting and getting ourselves organized for the week to come. We even watched a DVD that Debbie had brought using my laptop and the LCD projector, creating a wall sized image on our wall.  

My day was focused on attempting to get my luggage. At 2 pm they told me the luggage had just arrived in Brisbane and that they had arranged for a courier to deliver it to me at the hotel. Whoo Hooo! We decided that Fred would stay here to receive the luggage while we went to the Convention Center.

We found the convention center, registered and greeted old friends from previous ICM Council meetings.

This was followed by a Regional Meeting for the Americas where we got to share the main issues each member association in the Americas felt were the main concerns in their area, from the loss of midwives in practice, lack of autonomy, rising cesarean rates to starving mothers in the Latin American countries.

We had planned to go out to dinner with Fred, Diane's husband, Bruce and their kids, but by the time we had checked out the suite we had booked for our MANA reception and then got totally lost driving back to the hotel, It was 8 pm!

Worse still, no courier had ever delivered the luggage!   A few phone calls later, although we could not confirm that my luggage was at the airport, we determined that the Baggage Services office closed in about 45 minutes, so Debbie and I jumped in the car and raced to the airport before they closed. I was totally thrilled when it was actually there and apparently untouched!  

When we got back to the hotel, Fred and I split up our belongings (carefully to packed to avoid any overweight suitcases) and Debbie and I drove Fred to his hostel where he will be living for the next two weeks. It turned out it is just a block and a half from here and though it is still dark, I think we will be able to see it from our balcony.

Monday, July 18th

I must be getting over jet-lag....this morning I slept until 5:30 a.m.....a whole hour longer than yesterday, so my body is slowly acclimating to the local time!

And just to prove it to those of you who know my usual sleep habits,
here is a picture of this morning's sunrise!

Today was the beginning of the ICM Council Meetings. We met from 9-5 with morning and afternoon teas (breaks with tea and goodies) and lunch provided for us . Most of the "teas" were yummy, though always sweets that, for me became tiresome. (Not being a great lover of sweets.) Much the really important work at ICM is accomplished during these teas and luncheons when we have an opportunity to network with other delegates.

There were approximately 50 member associations from about 40 countries around the world, with about 100 delegates. It is really quite a challenge to try to meet the needs of such a large and diverse group of midwives from such culturally different places!

Here are your two hardworking MANA delegates! Sometime about mid-morning I learned that the ICM Office had been unable to complete the translation and printing of my report as chair of the ICM Education Standing Committee, so I was asked to present an oral report. Yikes! (But I did it....you know me....never at a loss for words)

Following the Council Meeting today, we were transported in
two double, articulated buses to the Government House.

Here we attended a reception hosted by Ms. Quentin Brice,
Governor of Queensland (mother of 5, midwifery support and feminist).

It was a lovely event with endless trays of champagne, wine and juice,
plus a delicious variety of h'or d'oeuvres in an absolutely fabulous mansion!

When the buses took us back to the Convention Center, our chauffeur was awaiting us....notice that the steering wheel is on the right side of the car (and you drive on the left side of the road here!)

Tuesday, July 19th

One of the issues discussed was the Definition of a Midwife. This is an issue we were hoping we could address again and this agenda item offered two options for edits to this statement. We agreed that the 2nd option would be the best for the USA. The ACNM jumped in early in the conversation, making a motion to adopt Option One (the one we did not like). We did not realize (and we were not alone--many of the delegates shared our surprise) that this meant that Option Two (our preference) would not even be discussed! ARGHH. Option One was not significantly different than the former "Definition" but the adoption of this new definition did not gain what we had hoped.  

Karen Guilliam, New Zealand

Most of the issues we dealt with were not very controversial, but the adoption by ICM of these position papers will strengthen midwifery worldwide! Two very controversial issues were the two joint statements that ICM has endorsed with WHO and FIGO. One concerned the "Skilled Attendant" and the second concerned "Active Management of the 3rd Stage of Labor to Prevent Postpartum Hemorrhage".

The Council expressed distress over some parts of these two statements and, in fact, voted to have ICM withdraw from the "Skilled Attendant" joint statement because parts of this statement were so problematic for midwives. This vote caused great distress on the part of the Board of Management and a feeling on their part that their work was being disrespected. Following a lot of additional discussion over the next 24 hours, the Council voted to withdraw their vote and direct the Board of Management to propose changes to both Joint Statements that would make each of them more acceptable.

Wednesday, July 20th

Wednesday night we held our MANA Reception. We had a really beautiful suite at The Rydges, a hotel right next to the Convention Center. The room had floor to ceiling windows and a balcony on two walls with a breathtaking view of the river.

(This is not a great photo...but you get the idea.)

Unfortunately, the only other social event planned for the week happened to be a dinner sponsored by the Japanese Nurses Association ON THE EXACT SAME NIGHT and at the EXACT SAME TIME as our reception. (Too late for either of us to change our reservations.)

For the first 45 minutes or so, we wondered if anyone would show up.
Then the first wave came and from that point on the place was PACKED!

We estimated that we had at least 75 guests (based on
the number of cups we used :-) for the wine). 

Given that there were 108 delegates, it was a very successful event!
Even the Japanese Nurse's Assn. came as soon as their dinner was over!

Thursday, July 21st

After an extra long day of pushing the agenda to finish our work (we did not finish everything) our agenda included two issues that we felt strongly about: the election of the next Regional Rep for the Americas and the location for the ICM Congress in 2011.   The candidates for Regional Rep (we get to choose two) were Alicia Cillo from Argentina; Barbara Anderson (nominated by the ACNM) from the US and Debbie Lewis (nominated by MANA) from Trinidad and Tobago. The winners were Alicia and Debbie! We were thrilled.

Debbie Lewis, New Regional Rep for the Americas.

Bids for the 2011 ICM Congress was between Montreal, Canada, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Durban South Africa. There was lots of lobbying and little gifts at our seats throughout the four days. First thing this morning, each country gave a pretty slick presentation "selling" their bid for the Congress. Interestingly enough, some of the countries had presentations underwritten by their governments.

Montreal, Canada

Canada, for instance, paid for the gifts to the delegates and paid for three Canadians to come to Australia for the presentation, including one from the Bureau of Tourism who gave part of the presentation....this is definitely BIG BUSINESS!

Myself, I was conflicted about who to vote for. On the one hand, Montreal is close and besides the much lower travel cost for MANA, the opportunity to get many US midwives to an international congress....not to mention participating in the Council meetings as observers....was great!

Buenos Aires, Argentina

On the other hand, Argentina made a pretty good case for the benefit that would be gained by the local midwifery community if the Congress was held there.

Durban, South Africa

When it came to a vote, Durban, South Africa won the bid!

This will be expensive for MANA! (But we have 6 years to save for it!)

During our closing, Joyce Thompson, ICM Director, 
was honored for the 15 years she has dedicated to ICM.  

We are all feeling relieved that the Council Meetings are over. We have two days off now (we plan to go see some kangaroos and koala bears) and then must set up the MANA booth on Sunday with Opening Ceremonies beginning Sunday afternoon.