I am a midwife and my heart is breaking. I have spent 15
years working tirelessly in the career I love serving the women and families I
have come to love. My passion for a woman’s right to make her own choices about
how, where and with whom she births her baby are as strong as I write this,
than they were the day I became a student midwife. For the last 13 of those
years I have been working as an independent midwife and it has been the most
wonderful time of my life, for I now know how empowering it can be, not only
for women, but for the midwife too, to make individual informed choices.
About 5 years ago I received a letter from the Government
stating that due to new legislation that was coming from the EU it would be illegal
for midwives to practice without insurance within 18 months. It has actually
taken much longer than that but despite all that has been done by the
Independent Midwives, the law will be in force from October 2013 and I will
therefore legally have to stop practicing as I do now. Choice for women and midwives will legally be no more. It will be the NHS way or nothing.
This is not something that is directed solely against independent midwives. There are already lots of rumours about why this is coming about but this is not anyone trying to rid the country of independent midwives due to how they practice or because doctors or the NHS want to take control. We have been caught in an unfortunate situation. The new law will say that all health care professionals should have professional Indemnity insurance in order that the public have protection in the event that human error makes it necessary for them to make a claim against a practitioner. Whilst all other health care professionals such as Osteopaths, Physiotherapists, Podiatrists to name but a few, can purchase insurance on the commercial market, midwives cannot. The insurance companies are about making a profit, they are a business and they can clearly see that a valid claim involving a baby will not make them a profit from premiums collected from 150 midwives or so. So there we are, caught in a situation not of our making.
We started fighting back, we had marches and campaigns, we
drew attention to our plight and we had pledges of support from many a high
place. The Government pledged to help us; David Cameron said if he came to
power he would not let it happen. They said Independent midwives provide gold
standard care and are valuable to the profession. So far they or he have not
carried out their promises. The solutions they suggested way back when we first
had notice of the proposed changes are not viable. We have jumped through every
loop they have suggested, we have walked every promised path from every insurance
broker who has said they can help, but we are no closer to a solution.
We have put every valid argument forward; that its women’s,
choice that we always inform woman of the situation as per our rules, that
there has only ever been a couple of personal claims against independent
midwives ever, that our outcomes and statistics speak for themselves, that the
country is already short of midwives, that it feels to be against our human
rights, that it takes away choice for women which in itself goes against
Government policy, that it will make women and
midwives go underground and that ultimately it may make women birth
without a midwife putting them and babies at risk. As usual woman and babies
are at the bottom of any political agenda. This is a woman’s rights issue and
not many concerns themselves with woman’s rights or issues.
Collectively we will not give up the fight till the very end
and I personally pledge not to ever give up on woman and on my profession even if
my profession gives up on me. I will always be a midwife whatever that may cost
me but it doesn’t stop my heart from breaking