Maternity care is a journey, and all too often, there are points along the way where women are let down, left uninformed, and disempowered, and the lack of midwives lies behind this. Government directives, clinical guidance and decades of policy based around 'choice' is only worth the paper it's printed on,
The 5th of May is International Day of the Midwife and the UK should be supporting midwives and other maternity professionals more so now than ever before. Why? Because there is currently a baby boom, a shortage of 5,000 midwives and the UK has one of the worst stillbirth rates in the developed world according to the 2011 Lancet report.
Independent Midwives, the only alternative to NHS maternity care available in the UK, are currently under threat. This Monday - 25 March - they are taking to the streets of London in protest at a EU Directive that requires all registered health professionals to have mandatory insurance.
Over the past nine months of appointments, I hadn't seen the same midwife once. Pushed into the position of pregnancy slut - hopes for an actual relationship scuppered early on. It was never anything more than a one 'meet' stand.
Our number-crunching, for the year 2011, suggests that England is short of as many as 5,000 midwives. Progress on midwife numbers since the turn of the century reminds me of the tortoise and the hare. I just hope that, as in the case of that fable, the tortoise ends up winning.
Anyone in the world can pledge any amount they would like (min £1) towards the funding of the film and in return can select from a variety of rewards, ranging from a simple social media 'shout out', a copy of the new ebook '24weekers: The Story', through to a non-speaking role in the film and dinner with the director and some of the cast!
Sadly 15 million babies are born before 37 weeks resulting in 1.1 million babies dying every year around the globe. The staggering fact is that reports show around 75% of these deaths could be prevented with better health education and medical care.
The biggest baby boom in 40 years is expected just as maternity cutbacks hit hospitals. New figures suggest more than 700,000 babies will be born i...
Involving children in the discussions that affect them truly changes the outcomes. Ensuring that those discussions are focused on the most poor and the most vulnerable will guarantee that this week's meeting has the lasting effects on children's lives that those gathered must surely want.
Sadly 17 babies are stillborn or die shortly after birth in the UK every DAY, which equates to 6,500 each year.
If you gave birth recently, did you feel you had real freedom? Freedom to choose where you gave birth, who was present, what interventions took place and how you delivered your baby? Were you given access to all of the facts needed to make your choices truly informed? Who was the most powerful person in the room at the moment of birth? And did the experience leave you feeling exhilarated, disappointed, or downright traumatised?
"I didn't know anything about sex, contraception or relationships when I left school, there was never anyone to ask who could explain properly to me in sign language. I didn't know how many sexual partners were 'normal'. When I left school and left home, I was raped by a man."
Frank Field has hit the headlines again this week talking about how we measure poverty and improve life chances for children.
Giving birth at home may be the safest and cheapest option for women who already have children, a study claimed today. University of Oxford researc...
We are in an age of austerity, of course. But the government often boasts that the NHS budget has been protected, and surely if there is any group that should be shielded from the brunt of any cuts it is newborn babies.
Two midwives at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde who refused to supervise staff involved with abortions, have taken their employers to court for refusing...
Certainly women should continue to have a choice about having a baby at home and the NHS has a proud tradition of supporting that choice by deploying midwives to assist. But perhaps it's time that parents are told that it's not without potential serious risks, instead of carrying on as though it's just as safe as having baby at the hospital. The findings from this study would certainly support that.
Maternity services in England and Wales have been "overwhelmed" by a rising number of births, including more complex cases, according to a new report....
If mothers don't get enough sleep or their sleep is continually broken they will suffer from sleep deprivation. This will have a major impact on cognitive functioning but also on emotional and physical health not the optimal position to be in when caring for young children.
David Cameron's failure to honour a promise to introduce an extra 3,000 midwives in England is putting the safety of mothers and unborn babies at risk...
Obviously, in the US you're paying for the care you receive and if you choose to go private in the UK (as long as private will cover your pregnancy care which it doesn't always), you will be paying for the care you receive. What I don't understand is why, on the NHS, is a first pregnancy one standard of care and a second pregnancy an entirely different standard of care?
If the tabloids are looking for the real story here, it is not about teenage mums or even twentysomething grandparents, it is the baby boom, and the extreme pressure that is now placing on midwives and the care they provide.
Ahead of a controversial programme that will reveal how maternity services in London are struggling to cope with increasing birth rates and a shortage...
PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Some maternity units are struggling to cope as the birth rate rises, according to a new report. Last year there was one baby b...
