Beaufort West

Beaufort West is a very isolated and lonely place while at the same time it is also severely economically depressed. This has resulted in the inhabitants of that town experiencing harsh living conditions. They have had to adapt to many hardships and for them life is a daily struggle. Many, if not most of the towns people go about their daily lives having adapted to their circumstances. The will to survive and go forward is a very special trait in that community.

I come from this background and vividly remember struggling through the dry and arid summer months while freezing in winter; not a pleasant experience. Having said this, I have found that these unfortunate experiences I speak of have equipped me to cope in all corners of the world where I have worked and visited. I am a survivor. Beaufort West helped me to survive.

My parents and grandparents taught me the art of survival despite the fact that on occasions it felt that the 'Good Lord" had turned his back on the people of Beaufort West. Nonetheless, the people of that town go on from day to day taking each day as it comes.

The people of Beaufort West and the surrounding areas are survivors in an arid semi desert landscape and as far as many things are concerned have learned to adapt. Midwifery is profoundly to the fore in this community since the people realise the immense importance of giving to others and maintaining life. Despite the very many adverse conditions, the people have grown in strength, shrugging off those dry and dusty summer days and freezing winter nights, always hoping for a better tomorrow. The realization of their circumstances has long dawned on them and they know that there is little choice but to go on; they cannot afford the luxury of self pity. Life must go on-the people of Beaufort West face a tuff life but never surrender.
 

About me

I was born in a small town called Beaufort West, South Africa.  Beaufort West is a typical small town about 450 km from Cape Town, with a rich romantic history. The town is regarded as the halfway mark when travelling on the N1 from Cape Town to Johannesburg. The town was called Beaufort in honour of Lord Charles Somerset's father, the fifth Duke of Beaufort, and man who could trace his lineage back to the Plantagenets. Beaufort West became the first municipality in South Africa and had the first town hall in the country as well. Beaufort West people are very friendly and helpful and has produced many medical greats. The world's first heart transplant surgeon, Christiaan Barnard was born en bred in Beaufort West.

I was a former resident of the old Bo-dorp. Many coloured families lived there before apartheid, but we were moved to live in a area south of the town. The old Bo-dorp’s past is filled with family sagas and many stories about the old  business district of early New Street. I attended the Old North End School, now a second hand motor spare type of store.

I grew up with 5 sibblings. Life was sometimes very tuff. Needless to say, my life was always very interesting. I grew up in a culture where large families and birth are common and celebrated events. This was a big factor in influencing me to choose midwifery as a career. I am a midwife and an educator, with a steady devotion to chilbirth. I began my midwifery journey through Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town.  I trained first as a nurse and then as a midwife, qaulifying in 1983. I enjoyed many different clinical placements in South Africa, varying from rural midwifery, attending home births to a nursing placement attending births in a busy city hospital. I am also proud to be carrying on in the footsteps of my great-grandmother, grandmother and great-aunt, who worked as midwives in Beaufort West rural areas.

I believe that birth is a healthy and natural body function and that it should be left alone so that birthing women will give birth with dignity. That is why my primary responsiblity is to empower women to give birth sponstnously. I love to spend quality time educating and upporting women and their families during this special period in their life.

Midwifery to me means informing, supporting and respecting women and their families through this profound period of their lives. To understand that birth, and pregnancy can be laden with broad values and vast diversity are also elements I see central to midwifery. As old as the midwifery profession is, it is enriched by older values and I am honoured to be part of it. My work is exciting, rewarding and very satisfying. Working with women, their families and babies at this very speical time in their lives is immeasurable. For this reason I keep my skills and information current by attending conferences and workshops around the world.