Contemporary witnesses wanted (1960-1979)
Midwifery and unwanted pregnancy
Dear Midwives Network,
For a contemporary witness project at the University of Bielefeld, I am looking for contacts to midwives who worked in West Germany from around 1960-1979 and were involved in the care of unwanted pregnant women and/or the performance of abortions. If you know of any former colleagues or contacts from your region who worked as midwives between 1960 and 1979 and would be willing to share their experiences, I would be very pleased if you would forward my request or send me feedback.
As unwanted pregnancies and abortions were illegalized and not discussed publicly at the time - and this still has an impact to this day - and contemporary witnesses are now around 75-90 years old, they are very difficult to reach and often only through personal contacts.
Unwanted pregnancies were often 'not an issue' back then, abortions were forbidden with a few exceptions. Nevertheless, it is estimated that several hundred thousand abortions were carried out each year. To this day, little is known about the people who accompanied unintended pregnant women or performed abortions. Most of these people - including doctors, midwives, nurses, receptionists and people without medical training - have never spoken publicly about their experiences. According to reports from pregnant women, midwives, along with other professional groups, were important and in some cases the first and local professional contact persons for many issues relating to pregnancy, birth and family planning - including unwanted pregnancies and abortions. In a 1965 survey of almost 1000 letters to the magazine STERN, around 10% of those affected stated that their abortion had been performed by a midwife. Nevertheless, the experiences of midwives are still less visible today than those of gynecologists/physicians.
Here you can find a flyer of the project. Interviews with contemporary witnesses can take place in person, by telephone or digitally - naturally confidentially and in compliance with the applicable data protection regulations. Results and content will only be used anonymously. Contact maren.lange[at]uni-bielefeld.dePhone: 0521 - 106-4571; www.erinnerungs-studie.de
I would be delighted if you or a colleague could help to make this story visible!
Many thanks for your support and best regards
Maren Lange
"Outpatient birth - a presentation of the subjective and objective advantages and disadvantages of an outpatient birth"
Short survey for mothers who have given birth within the last two years
Dear fellow midwives, dear mothers,
My name is Anna, I am a midwife and I am currently in my final semester of the Midwifery B.Sc. course at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences.
As part of my Bachelor's thesis entitled "Outpatient birth - a presentation of the subjective and objective advantages and disadvantages of an outpatient birth", I am investigating the experiences and perspectives of mothers on this topic. I compare outpatient birth with standardized postpartum care starting in hospital.
To this end, I have created a short survey aimed at mothers who have given birth within the last two years. It only takes about 5 to 10 minutes to complete.
Click here for the survey: https://survey.academiccloud.de/index.php/272538?lang=de
I would be delighted if you could share the survey with interested mothers or take part yourself. Every participation helps to gain valuable insights that can contribute to improving care!
Thank you in advance for your support!
With best regards and a wonderful Advent season,
Anna Tiedje
Caring for stillbirths - emotional stress for midwives
Dear midwives,
My name is Nele Engler, and I am studying midwifery science in my 7th trimester at the Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM) in Hanover.
The aim of my research project is to show the emotional strain that midwives experience when caring for stillbirths and to find out what strategies they use to deal with it.
Caring for stillbirths can be an intense psychological and emotional challenge for midwives. They are faced with the task of supporting grieving parents and at the same time processing their own emotions. This often leads to stress and exhaustion. It is therefore important to deal with this burden more intensively and to develop support strategies. This survey is intended to contribute to this.
This questionnaire is aimed exclusively at trained midwives. The survey comprises 11 questions and takes a maximum of 10 minutes to complete. Your answers will be collected anonymously and treated in strict confidence. The link to the survey.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by e-mail .
Thank you for your participation!
Nele Engler
