Society talk by a renowned midwifery expert is a hit with students
On May 7th the Midwifery Academic Society hosted a pioneer of the midwifery profession, Michel Odent MD, for a talk on newborn babies' need for three crucial elements: love, stress and microbes. The popular talk was organised by the society chair, Verity Blackman. We asked her how it went - take it away Verity!
"Michel Odent is the most well-known figure in natural birthing in the UK and I wanted to bring someone really inspiring to talk to students.
"We are trained to focus on so-called 'normal birth' with no interventions and this is his speciality, allowing women time and space to get on with the natural physiological process of birthing their baby.
"Around 50 people came: some were staff members which was lovely; some were students from other universities; most were from Middlesex. Everyone was very excited! Some of us could hardly believe we had the actual Michel Odent in the room with us.
His career advice for midwifery students was to keep quiet during births and learn to knit so you can sit in the corner occupied enough not to constantly stare at the woman you are looking after!
"He was really informal, encouraging questions and discussion, and he let us take pictures with him at the end. He even signed books for a few of us! Actually having him here was a real highlight."
The Midwifery Academic Society have more to come from their May Talks series: next up is a chance to hear two midwifery professionals talk candidly about their careers and expertise, and on Saturday May 17th there will be a day of talks exploring the topic of post-natal illness.
Logan van Lessen and Denis Walsh will speak in CG77 at 5.30pm today - to book tickets click here!
