This year, more than any other year, we want to acknowledge the amazing work of our midwives on International Day of the Midwife 2020.
In every KGHypnobirthing parents’ course, I stress to parents how fortunate they are to live in a country that has a strong, autonomous midwifery profession. Because of our midwives we as a country are in the forefront of normality.
Midwives have been the driving force of changes towards normality in the past, such as episiotomies no longer being routine practice in the UK. Midwives are still having the courage – and it is courageous because their career can be on the line – to bend the rules to give woman centred care when, in their professional judgement, it is appropriate.
Sometimes I teach pregnant women who come from other countries such as the USA whose families back home are saying, “Why don’t you have proper care from a real obstetrician in the UK?” What a misconception! Obstetricians are wonderful, of course, when you have an emergency and need a surgeon. Midwifery led care means that this is much less likely to happen. Our midwives know how to support normality, how to recognise if a labour is veering from the normal path, and how to get it back on track. The knowledge of our midwives is superb, including dealing with unusual situations and knowing when it is appropriate to call in an obstetrician.
All pregnant women and their partners need to really appreciate how lucky we are to have midwifery care in this country, and a strong autonomous midwifery profession. If you are ever called upon to do or say anything in support of midwives – do it!
Thank you to all the midwives not just in the UK, but around the world!
If you are a midwife yourself, we have created some new relaxations called Caring for the Carer, specifically for you to use in stressful situations, in particular during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can find these here.
