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A week in the life
A week in the life Denise Tiran Denise Tiran is principal lecturer in complementary therapies and midwifery in the School of Health at the University of Greenwich, south London. Here she describes a typical week in her busy life.
Fig. I Denise Tiran.
MONDAY
Denise Tiran Principal Lecturer in Complementary Therapies and Midwifery, University of Greenwich, UK
Out of the house by 7.25 am to get to Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup where I undertake my clinical work, running a clinic using complementary therapies (CTs) in the maternity unit. Attend manager's handover report, call in to delivery suite to see if any of my 'regulars' have delivered, and just have time for a quick coffee before my first lady arrives. Susannah had a twin miscarriage at 23 weeks after IVF in her last pregnancy and is attending mainly for stress relief and TLC. We chat while I do some relaxing reflexology for her. Natalie is next, feeling much better this week after several visits to ease her constant migraines and sickness. Reflexology and aromatherapy have been effective, and as she is due next week we finalize her requirements for CTs for labour (arnica, Rescue remedy, essential oils). Rabinda is late for her appointment so I rush off for a
drink and the loo! When she arrives Rabinda is feeling low and in need of time to talk, so we abandon the idea of her usual massage, and just chat. Physically she has recovered from her first trimester sickness but is obviously not finding the pregnancy easy to come to terms with. The next lady, Catherine, has had some relief of her backache since we last met, but is now developing carpal tunnel syndrome, so I perform reflexology, which is usually successful. Just time for another drink before my regular session to do a back massage for one of the consultant obstetricians, who values her 20 minutes' 'time out' each week. Attend monthly unit meeting (working lunch). Another consultant wants to discuss a case with me; a lady admitted with third trimester abdominal pain for which no cause can be found. He asks me to do some diagnostic reflexology - I think I have finally 'arrived'! Feeling tired so add some Bach flower olive to a drink to pep me up. Rush round the postnatal wards to see if anyone needs me - there is a mother with retention of urine who needs reflex zone therapy. Bleep goes off while I ' m doing it - a midwife in delivery suite needs advice about homeopathic remedies which one of the women has brought in. Staff clinic in the afternoon - a midwife wanting a back massage, a consultant anaesthetist with a stiff neck needing reflexology and a secretary with premenstrual tension and breast tenderness, who I advise to take camomile tea, reduce sugar intake and try vitamin B6 and zinc. 4.15pm and I leave to collect my son from school. Get home, make supper, help Adam with his homework, and finally drop into a chair to watch TV - about all I ' m good for on Monday evenings!
TUESDAY Office day at the University. Spend an hour sorting the post and answering the 'phone; see two
Complementary Therapies in Nursing 8=Midw/fery(I 999) 5, 22-23 9 1999HarcourtBrace& Co. Ltd
A week in the life
students about their aromatherapy assignments; organize documentation for meeting about student's APL (accreditation of prior learning). Grab a sandwich at the desk. Bleep goes off - a midwife at a neighbouring hospital wanting help with finding research into cabbage leaves for breast engorgement. Almost late for a meeting of senior staff who are key account managers for liaison with local trusts. Rush from that meeting to conduct a session introducing our new BSc (Hons) Complementary Therapies to prospective students. Collect Adam, my son, cook supper and leave for my aerobics class.
WEDNESDAY Unusually, a second morning in the office this week. I manage to find time to do some marking as well as work on the timetabling for next year. However, am interrupted frequently by the 'phone and colleagues at the door. It is almost relaxing to teach this afternoon level 3 Holistic Therapies group who want to discuss ethical dilemmas related to CTs in the NHS. Several students stay behind for assignment help. Have to leave at 4.30 to collect Adam. Attend a branch meeting of the Royal College of Midwives.
Safer Childbirth? A Critical History of Maternity Care Plarjorie T e w
Free Association Books, London, 1988, ISBN: 1-85343-426 4 Price s As ever, Marjorie Tew's eloquence and undoubted ability to utilize factual and statistical data to produce a convincing argument shine through in this new edition of Safer childbirth ? updated since 1995. The prefaces to both the first and second editions are included to show the historical context of the books and a brief introductory chapter sets the scene since the second edition. A somewhat superfluous foreword by Sheila Kitzinger acknowledges the debt owed by professionals and consumers of the maternity services to Marjorie Tew. A glossary which could be useful is marred by irritating inaccuracies in some of the definitions, although admittedly this is a matter of semantics. A fascinating and exceptionally well-referenced chapter on 'birth attendants' explores the changing education and roles of midwives, obstetricians and general practitioners, primarily in the UK but also in the USA and developing countries. Chapter 3 discusses the evolution of antenatal care, acknowledging the value of technological advances but debating the unquestioning
23
THURSDAY Teaching all day - Dip.HE Complementary Therapy students on the Aromatherapy unit. We spend the morning in a problem solving workshop to help them apply principles of aromatherapy within different clinical settings. We're joined by my colleague, Fran, in the afternoon for full body massage practice the last session before their practical exam. Collect Adam, cook supper and dash of to a choir practice. -
FRIDAY Manage to take Adam to school myself and return home to work on my research and the second edition of my first book. Put washing in the machine, turn dishwasher on, then have to move upstairs to work as I can't bear the noise! Bleep goes off - postnatal ward wanting more blended lavender oil for mothers to put in the bath to ease the perineum. Spend half an hour on the 'phone to my secretary sorting out an urgent problem with a student. Actually pause for lunch! Fetch Adam at 3 pm - his one day when I can collect him on time; we buy ice creams and eat them on the way home. Adam does his homework while I finish one section of my writing, then pack up for the day. Paul and I have a glass of wine while I cook dinner, but I manage to fail asleep later and miss the end of the film.
faith of the medical profession in their benefits at the possible expense of facilitating a more normal life experience for women. Developments within antenatal care place the emphasis firmly on the defensive element of obstetrics and, Tew argues, the combination of gynaecology with obstetrics has resulted in a clinical specialism founded on potential or actual pathology. Similarly Chapter 4 investigates the changing practices related to labour and birth, including artificial pain relief, instrumental intervention, maternal posture and place of birth. In her own inimitable fashion, Tew places these in the context of socioeconomic, political and global factors and, whilst making no overt judgement, makes the reader uncomfortably aware of the implications of the various issues. The book is well written, well researched and balanced. It should be mandatory reading for all professionals involved in maternity care, to cause them to reflect on both their individual and institutional practices without becoming defensive about the criticisms therein. It is certainly a valuable contemporary text for professional libraries, even if the second edition is already available, and can be recommended unhesitatingly by this reviewer.
Denise Tiran Principal Lecturer University of Greenwich
Fig. I Denise Tiran.
MONDAY
Denise Tiran Principal Lecturer in Complementary Therapies and Midwifery, University of Greenwich, UK
Out of the house by 7.25 am to get to Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup where I undertake my clinical work, running a clinic using complementary therapies (CTs) in the maternity unit. Attend manager's handover report, call in to delivery suite to see if any of my 'regulars' have delivered, and just have time for a quick coffee before my first lady arrives. Susannah had a twin miscarriage at 23 weeks after IVF in her last pregnancy and is attending mainly for stress relief and TLC. We chat while I do some relaxing reflexology for her. Natalie is next, feeling much better this week after several visits to ease her constant migraines and sickness. Reflexology and aromatherapy have been effective, and as she is due next week we finalize her requirements for CTs for labour (arnica, Rescue remedy, essential oils). Rabinda is late for her appointment so I rush off for a
drink and the loo! When she arrives Rabinda is feeling low and in need of time to talk, so we abandon the idea of her usual massage, and just chat. Physically she has recovered from her first trimester sickness but is obviously not finding the pregnancy easy to come to terms with. The next lady, Catherine, has had some relief of her backache since we last met, but is now developing carpal tunnel syndrome, so I perform reflexology, which is usually successful. Just time for another drink before my regular session to do a back massage for one of the consultant obstetricians, who values her 20 minutes' 'time out' each week. Attend monthly unit meeting (working lunch). Another consultant wants to discuss a case with me; a lady admitted with third trimester abdominal pain for which no cause can be found. He asks me to do some diagnostic reflexology - I think I have finally 'arrived'! Feeling tired so add some Bach flower olive to a drink to pep me up. Rush round the postnatal wards to see if anyone needs me - there is a mother with retention of urine who needs reflex zone therapy. Bleep goes off while I ' m doing it - a midwife in delivery suite needs advice about homeopathic remedies which one of the women has brought in. Staff clinic in the afternoon - a midwife wanting a back massage, a consultant anaesthetist with a stiff neck needing reflexology and a secretary with premenstrual tension and breast tenderness, who I advise to take camomile tea, reduce sugar intake and try vitamin B6 and zinc. 4.15pm and I leave to collect my son from school. Get home, make supper, help Adam with his homework, and finally drop into a chair to watch TV - about all I ' m good for on Monday evenings!
TUESDAY Office day at the University. Spend an hour sorting the post and answering the 'phone; see two
Complementary Therapies in Nursing 8=Midw/fery(I 999) 5, 22-23 9 1999HarcourtBrace& Co. Ltd
A week in the life
students about their aromatherapy assignments; organize documentation for meeting about student's APL (accreditation of prior learning). Grab a sandwich at the desk. Bleep goes off - a midwife at a neighbouring hospital wanting help with finding research into cabbage leaves for breast engorgement. Almost late for a meeting of senior staff who are key account managers for liaison with local trusts. Rush from that meeting to conduct a session introducing our new BSc (Hons) Complementary Therapies to prospective students. Collect Adam, my son, cook supper and leave for my aerobics class.
WEDNESDAY Unusually, a second morning in the office this week. I manage to find time to do some marking as well as work on the timetabling for next year. However, am interrupted frequently by the 'phone and colleagues at the door. It is almost relaxing to teach this afternoon level 3 Holistic Therapies group who want to discuss ethical dilemmas related to CTs in the NHS. Several students stay behind for assignment help. Have to leave at 4.30 to collect Adam. Attend a branch meeting of the Royal College of Midwives.
Safer Childbirth? A Critical History of Maternity Care Plarjorie T e w
Free Association Books, London, 1988, ISBN: 1-85343-426 4 Price s As ever, Marjorie Tew's eloquence and undoubted ability to utilize factual and statistical data to produce a convincing argument shine through in this new edition of Safer childbirth ? updated since 1995. The prefaces to both the first and second editions are included to show the historical context of the books and a brief introductory chapter sets the scene since the second edition. A somewhat superfluous foreword by Sheila Kitzinger acknowledges the debt owed by professionals and consumers of the maternity services to Marjorie Tew. A glossary which could be useful is marred by irritating inaccuracies in some of the definitions, although admittedly this is a matter of semantics. A fascinating and exceptionally well-referenced chapter on 'birth attendants' explores the changing education and roles of midwives, obstetricians and general practitioners, primarily in the UK but also in the USA and developing countries. Chapter 3 discusses the evolution of antenatal care, acknowledging the value of technological advances but debating the unquestioning
23
THURSDAY Teaching all day - Dip.HE Complementary Therapy students on the Aromatherapy unit. We spend the morning in a problem solving workshop to help them apply principles of aromatherapy within different clinical settings. We're joined by my colleague, Fran, in the afternoon for full body massage practice the last session before their practical exam. Collect Adam, cook supper and dash of to a choir practice. -
FRIDAY Manage to take Adam to school myself and return home to work on my research and the second edition of my first book. Put washing in the machine, turn dishwasher on, then have to move upstairs to work as I can't bear the noise! Bleep goes off - postnatal ward wanting more blended lavender oil for mothers to put in the bath to ease the perineum. Spend half an hour on the 'phone to my secretary sorting out an urgent problem with a student. Actually pause for lunch! Fetch Adam at 3 pm - his one day when I can collect him on time; we buy ice creams and eat them on the way home. Adam does his homework while I finish one section of my writing, then pack up for the day. Paul and I have a glass of wine while I cook dinner, but I manage to fail asleep later and miss the end of the film.
faith of the medical profession in their benefits at the possible expense of facilitating a more normal life experience for women. Developments within antenatal care place the emphasis firmly on the defensive element of obstetrics and, Tew argues, the combination of gynaecology with obstetrics has resulted in a clinical specialism founded on potential or actual pathology. Similarly Chapter 4 investigates the changing practices related to labour and birth, including artificial pain relief, instrumental intervention, maternal posture and place of birth. In her own inimitable fashion, Tew places these in the context of socioeconomic, political and global factors and, whilst making no overt judgement, makes the reader uncomfortably aware of the implications of the various issues. The book is well written, well researched and balanced. It should be mandatory reading for all professionals involved in maternity care, to cause them to reflect on both their individual and institutional practices without becoming defensive about the criticisms therein. It is certainly a valuable contemporary text for professional libraries, even if the second edition is already available, and can be recommended unhesitatingly by this reviewer.
Denise Tiran Principal Lecturer University of Greenwich