Why sexist doctors are ruining midwifery in Britain
The push towards normal birth and the promotion of normality is a national driver for maternity services which is the focus for all maternity units across the country and not the excuse for midwives at Morecambe Bay to pursue a normal birth at whatever cost. Critics make no mention of the obstetricians. What was their part in this? What procedures and actions were they inflicting on women which resulted in the midwives taking the actions they did? The blame for these sad incidents lies with both professions. Midwives have very little voice within any NhS organisation. They’re managed by nurses and will soon be regulated by nurses. Maternity services are dominated by the obstetric profession and the service is paternalistic and sometimes misogynistic. I speak as someone who has worked in this field for 20 years. The obstetric profession is male-dominated and presides over a mostly female midwifery workforce and those who give birth — women. This is the crux of the problem and needs to be addressed immediately. The majority of births in the UK are attended by midwives and pass without incident. Procedures introduced by the medical profession, such as continuous cardiotocography (CTG foetal monitoring), have had no impact on foetal morbidity or mortality statistics, which have remained virtually the same since the introduction of this technology. They have, however, raised the rate of Caesareans and increased morbidity among mothers, who have undergone major surgery without clinical necessity. Induction of labour numbers have soared in recent years. Women are having labour induced early for no clinical reason, undergoing days of discomfort, monitoring, vaginal examinations, only to end up with an emergency Caesarean because we haven’t been able to force the body into labour. No wonder midwives feel disheartened and disillusioned, fearing for women and for their profession. Stoking a fire of blame against midwives for all that goes wrong in maternity services, while portraying obstetricians as saints and saviours, is wrong on every level.