LISTENING TO EACH OTHER
So, the Metropolitan Police Force is misogynistic, racist and homophobic. There are suggestions that the whole organisation should be dismantled and reassembled because it is toxic to its very core.
I’m beginning to think the same about some of our Maternity Services having read the Enquiry into One to One Midwifery which functioned for nearly 10 years in the North of England providing continuity of midwifery care. Some of the Report makes me weep. One to One Midwives sidelined when they transferred women into hospital, hospital staff refusing to take their handover, women being told “We don’t approve of your midwives” and their care being strongly criticised. Awful.
Surely by now we recognise that when you marginalise other Health Care Professionals it is DANGEROUS for women (or other patients,) when you other them and criticise them, give them no respect, then people die and are damaged. This has been the point of all the safety training copied from Airlines – respect and listen to every voice, mutual respect is what we need to do. No one is superior to anyone else, we all have our specialist knowledge and we should be listened to and respected.
Then the old chestnut “These women are receiving superior care, it isn’t fair” So instead of all women being given superior care, the unfair “superior” care is demolished so that it is fairer – all women can now be given inferior care – so that’s alright then!
When I analysed the report, all was not black and white, the One to One Midwives appeared to be rather lax at ticking boxes the correct way, they were criticised for their compliance with NHS forms and lists – maybe they were talking and listening to women instead because it is quite obvious that the vast majority of women loved the care they received from the midwives they knew. It makes me weep. We must realise that when midwifery is autonomous and personal and caring it works like magic! Women are mammals, mammals are exceptionally good at birthing, they usually just need support and someone guarding their back.
The thing that stood out for me was the statement “It is good practice to support a woman to identify the place of birth before 20 weeks gestation”, the One to One midwives were criticised for not doing that. Why? Where is the evidence to support that extraordinary and counter intuitive statement?
No one knows what your labour will be like, not the most experienced of midwives or obstetricians, not you. So the most sensible way to deal with labour is to see what it is like on the day. So if the labour is really, really painful and long drawn out you transfer to hospital and a nice comforting epidural, on the other hand if your labour is manageable and only takes 8 hours or so, stay at home and enjoy the comforts of your own home. The One to One midwives were in the glorious position of being able to assess women in their own homes, of course their outcomes were good despite them not ticking quite all the boxes.
Please respond to this Newsletter and help me locate all the midwifery schemes which have been destroyed so blatantly and cruelly. I need your help. MALFEASANCE IN PUBLIC OFFICE – only Beverley could think of that! Perhaps this will be the turning point.
