Views delivered at midwifery talks

A hospital trust has held its fifth midwifery conference in Maidstone.

About 120 people met at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust’s (MTW) Hermitage Lane site on Saturday, March 4 to hear speakers including Baroness Cumberlege, chairman of the National Maternity Review and chief executive of the Royal Col- lege of Midwives Cathy Warwick. MTW provides the majority of maternity services in west Kent which were recently rated as the only “top-performing” maternity service by NHS England.

However the trust courted controversy when it emerged high risk pregnant women would have to travel miles further away after the maternity day unit was closed in Maidstone. Baroness Cumberlege talked about implementing recommendations from the National Maternity Review and Cathy Warwick discussed her vision for midwifery by 2020.

MTW midwives shared their experiences of putting complementary therapies into practice and a group of student midwives gave a presentation.