Slaves to the Machine

Iv'e been reflecting today with a colleague about the way that we take so much technology in our work for granted.
Recently, I've noticed that we are starting to threaten ourselves with extinction if we don't hold on to our skills.
The MCA's who are responsible for taking blood pressure in one antenatal clinic can't use a manual sphygmanometer. Student Midwives are wanting to push buttons and hear beeps rather than use their hands and eyes to develop their Midwifery senses.

A while ago, I transferred one of my women to an antenatal assessment unit for monitoring, as I heard a slow fetal heart beat at her 38 week check which was slow to recover.
The midwife to took over her care didn't palpate to find how the baby was lying to find the optimal place to find the heartbeat, but instead, swathed K. in transmission gel until she found it (after I pointed out where i had been listening half an hour before). She then walked off with no explanation of what was going on or even what the wiggly lines the machine was drawing meant.
I nipped to the loo, and when i came back I met K. walking out with a very puzzled look on her face..... After 10 minutes on the digital monitoring, she had ' met the criteria' of the system she had been put on and sent home....
Needless to say.. she had not met 'my criteria' and I may well have caused a bit of a kerfuffle when I returned to the unit to find out why there had been no explanation to the woman...
I was told ' well find a doctor then'.. so I did... which I really think DID p**s them orf!
Fortunately I had a good relationship with the doctor I found, expalined everything and reassured K.

Let's not forget that not only are our women human, but us Midwives are too... less of the automation... more of the touchy feely stuff please xx