Midwifery under pressure - new evidence
Thursday December 4th, 2008
Growing pressures on midwives are putting strains on new procedures to regulate the profession, a report warned yesterday.
Midwives are under pressure from a sharp increase in birth rate over the last year - and increasingly complex pregnancies, according to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
The NMC raised the alarm after conducting an investigation of new supervisory procedures for midwives. These are meant to be run by Local Supervising Authorities.
The NMC said the new system was helping to maintain standards but smaller numbers of midwives were volunteering to become supervisors.
The report says there are big variations in the way local supervising authorities work, putting in place supervised practice and conducting investigations.
The report says the increase in birth rate has been as much as five per cent in some areas. It says areas for improvement in practice include interpretation of the heart rate of the unborn baby, incomplete record keeping and errors in drug administration.
The report was welcomed by organisations involved with childbirth.
Beverley Beech, chair of the Assocation for Improvements in the Maternity Services, said: "The serious shortage of midwives needs to be addressed urgently as failure to do so puts the health and well-being of mothers and babies at risk.
"Good quality midwifery care improves the health of mothers and babies and gives the family a good healthy start."
Cathy Warwick, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, said: "We want to reassure women that our maternity services are among the safest in the world.
"However, the bottom line is that women and babies are not always getting the quality of service they need, and that midwives want to deliver."
And Mary Newburn, of the National Childbirth Trust, said: "This report adds to out long-standing concerns about the inadequacy of midwifery staffing levels in our maternity services.
"It is time that governments across the UK take further practical action to implement the policies that have been set up to offer women safety and support."
Tags: Childbirth and Pregnancy | Nursing & Midwifery | UK News
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