Midwives left struggling after Lucy Letby case
RECORD numbers of midwives are contacting a charity for mental health support, new figures reveal.
The Laura Hyde Foundation (LHF) says it received 3,074 calls last year – up 119 per cent on 2022 when there were 1,402.
The charity, which provides support to all emergency service workers, said they felt the Lucy Letby case was behind the rise in requests for help.
Last August, Letby, of Hereford, was sentenced to 14 whole life orders after she was convicted of murdering seven babies and the attempted murders of six others, with two attempts on one of her victims. The offences took place at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit.
Liam Barnes, the chairman of the Laura Hyde Foundation, said: “Requests for our support have risen dramatically across all sectors – but the rise is especially stark among midwives. In fact we are supporting the largest number of midwives in our history right now.
“There are likely to be many reasons for this, including the Lucy Letby case. As a charity we are concerned the Letby trial tarred many excellent midwives with the same brush and has sadly led to many midwives finding themselves being suspected of negligible and criminal behaviour, often without any evidence.
“Understandably, this often causes significant distress to the individual, their colleagues and their family. Our services are needed more than ever and we need more funding and support from the Government to deliver the right interventions.”
The trauma many midwives are facing is just the tip of the iceberg, according to the charity. New data shows they were contacted on 11,119 occasions in 2023 by emergency service workers.
This is up from 7,288 in 2022 and 5,422 in 2021, meaning the demand for the charity’s services have increased by 205% in the space of two years.
More than half of those who contacted the LHF last year – 5,815 – said they had either suffered suicidal thoughts or undertaken suicidal activity.
Those aged 28-37 were the most likely to reach out for help – 3,310 in that age group contacted the LHF last year.
One midwife told the LHF morale at her NHS hospital was at rock bottom.
The woman, who works at a hospital in the north-east of England, said: “The Lucy Letby case cast a black cloud over the entire midwifery service, so I am not surprised to see that many colleagues are struggling and feeling on the end of a backlash.
“The reality is the majority of midwives in the NHS are incredibly hardworking and we sweat blood and tears for our patients and their babies.
“But all too often we are facing an uphill battle because services are so stretched which can have a knock-on effect on morale. In some hospitals where friends of mine work it’s been at rock bottom for a while now.”