On Friday I am meeting midwifery students in Second Life as part of their learning activities for the virtual birthing unit project. This is the second learning activity for stage one of the project.The aim of the session is to get out and about and look at alternative birthing environments in Second Life and compare them with "Te Wāhi Whānau/ The Birth Place".
Where to goI only have an hour to travel around and have a discussion so I thought I'd start by taking the students to some of the other maternity units I have found on my travels:
- Dreamscapes Maternity Center
- Jungle Baby Birth Center
- Rock a Bye Babies Maternity Clinic and Birthing Center
- TLC Babies Maternity Pediatric Clinic
I thought we could also have a look at some more 'serious/academic' hospitals that have maternity units such as The Land of the Long White Cloud. There is also the Anne Myers Medical Center but I can never get around it very well.
Alternative environmentsFinally, to get students thinking, I'll take them to some alternative places that may or may not be appropriate birth places.
- Calleta's Hobo Railroad Infohub
- Virtual Africa inSL
- Lost gardens of Apollo
- Tempura Island
- Koru Island
- Hoisoi Japanese Garden
- Inspire Space Park
- Tranquility Garden
We will then discuss the following questions:
- How could the features of the alternative birthing environments that we have visited be incorporated into the virtual birth unit?
- How do the features of our idealised virtual birthing environment match up with what we see in real life?
Is there anything aspects of places you have seen in Second Life that you'd like to incorporate into a birthing unit either in Second Life, or real life?If you'd like to join us, please come along on Friday 24th 10am and/or 1pm New Zealand time at the "Te Wāhi Whānau/ The Birth Place".
2 comments:
All these other birthing spaces look beautiful but very drafty and exposed. I'd prefer your virtual birthing centre. On the other hand, they do all have the look of the sort of tranquil space one might visualise for self-calming purposes.
Hope you are enjoying your locum work and so on and feeling happy to be back in NZ.
Dot
When I took the students around yesterday, that is exactly what they said. I also took them to a 'space' place which I love but they weren't too keen on the idea of an 'alternative' or fantasy idea.
The students were keen to replicate the real world as opposed to developing a fantasy place. This may be because of the stage of their learning or because they're new to SL.
Me...a midwife for some years...I am keen to investigate fantasy ideas about birth and birth environment that we bring back to real life (in a philosophical way). This may well be another research project.
I did enjoy my locum work and am doing another 2 weeks in August. What is good about being a locum is that you have all the fun with no responsibility for the day-to-day running of the maternity unit. The downside is that you don't get to know the women very well.
I am pleased to be back in New Zealand although I haven't been out and and about much because I've been tied to my computer working on this Second Life project. Once this project is completed, I plan to get out & take up some new hobbies or interests and go for a nice long walk on one of our beautiful beaches.
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