HBA
History
The HBA was established in the spring of 1982 by Sheena McMahon.
Since her own very positive experiences, she had been inundated
with enquiries from friends and through La Leche League and the
Irish Childbirth Trust. She decided that here was a need for an
organisation to give information about and promote the option
of home birth.
First Public Meeting
On an RTE Radio women's programme, Sheena spoke of her own home
birth experiences and announced a public meeting in the University
Hall, Hatch Street, Dublin.
The meeting was a resounding success and resulted in the formation
of a national committee which comprised of:
Founded: 1982
Bairbre Hardiman,
Margaret Wynne,
Deirdre and Gerry Hegarty.
Present Committee
Their first meeting was on January 19th 1983 and they began to
organise group meetings, membership, a library, fundraising, a
newsletter and a constitution.
top
The First Newsletter
The first HBA newsletter was published in the summer of 1983 and
has been a very important means of communication for the members
of the HBA ever since.
First ten months
In the first ten months of its existence, the HBA answered over
500 enquiries from all counties in Ireland - and all this on a
purely voluntary basis.
Sheena had an optimistic view of domiciliary/ community midwifery
in Ireland, predicting a return to previous levels (eg. 30% plus
in 1956 - a similar percentage to that of Holland today) within
5 years.
Slow but positive progress
Unfortunately, turning the tide has been slower than she anticipated
but this has certainly never dampened the enthusiasm and dedication
of the HBA and its members in lobbying for the rights of women
in regards to where they choose to give birth.
Second Public Meeting
The second public meeting was held the following year in the Gresham
Hotel, Dublin, and since then it has been a central function of
the HBA to hold these meetings to keep the idea of home birth
in the public eye.
Many well-known people from the natural childbirth field have
come to speak at these conferences including Ina
May Gaskin, Janet Balaskas, Sheila
Kitzinger and Frederic
Leboyer.
The centre is funded solely by membership subscriptions and voluntary
contributions. It is administered by an executive committee of
persons elected annually by the membership
|
News
|
