Thread by @Ella_M_Whelan

Hard not to be worried with my delivery date a few weeks away listening to this story on #Today this morning. Maybe time to share some thoughts on here instead of shouting about them to my partner as I have been doing for the last 9 months:

bbc.co.uk/news/health-62…

There is obviously a staffing problem - like most women I’ve barely seen the same midwife twice, meaning notes and prescriptions get lost or delayed. Trying to get one on the phone when you’re chasing up worrying results is almost impossible.

But there is also a question about how these hardworking women are being stretched and how they are spending their time - I can’t tell you how many appointments have been wasted lecturing me about breastfeeding or hypnobirthing - the reason this is a problem is…

… as the president of the RCOG was asked about on #Today this morning - there is a culture in maternity services increasingly fixated on holistic, natural birthing. This is experienced by lots of women as a pressure to keep quiet about concerns.

Tragedies happen when this focus clouds judgement - like the horrors at Shrewsbury and Telford. Ironically, we are told ad nauseam that it is ‘our birth’ and ‘our experience’ blah blah blah, and yet when you ask for a caesarean (like I did) you are met with scowls and scepticism.

If people want playlists and aromatherapy during their labour, who am I to judge? But as well as recruiting more staff, we should also be asking what those staff are being asked to do. Do I need this list of miserable snacks? Or do I need someone to be on top of my blood tests?

Aside from safety concerns I find myself dreading birth - I know I’ll be hassled to breastfeed & do skin-to-skin time because my midwife(s) have talked of nothing else. Instead of just being cared for, it can feel like we’re being asked to perform a certain kind of motherhood.

This is not a side issue - when women are pressured and lectured - made to feel like bad mums for not going to the lactation classes at 20 weeks(!?) - those of us who aren’t bolshy will refrain from speaking up when something feels wrong. That’s when mums and babies die.

Women are raising these issues - like @CPCS_UniKent @drruthannharpur @catherineroyuk and others - shining a light on the frankly terrifying stuff being taught on training courses - like this gem on how a baby not breathing is just waiting for its ‘spirit to come in’…

https://twitter.com/drruthannharpur/status/1570099193791844352

Why is this stuff being taught? Why was I told by a stern-faced consultant that my baby would be more likely to be obese later in life if I had a caesarean? What happened to standardised, trustworthy care based on evidence and common sense? These are the Qs that need to be asked.

Every midwife wants safe babies and safe mothers. This is not an attack on individuals - but when the news shows that NOT ONE maternity unit has outstanding rating of safety according to the CQC, it’s time to start challenging the direction that maternity seems to be headed in.