First published in Midwifery Matters 179 Childbirth in the UK is defined by societal and cultural beliefs, expectations and customs which influence women’s decisions (Luce et al, 2016). These beliefs become accepted as the ‘norm’ and are based on ideas which emerged during the 1700s, a time of significant advances in technology and science, when the wise midwifery ways were scorned as superstitious, archaic and risky (Davison, 2020). Respect was forming around the medical profession with the development of new birthing ideas based on science and knowledge of anatomy, leading to a belief that t ..read more

First published in Midwifery Matters 179 By Antonella Gambotto-Burke My baby was born blue and motionless. She didn’t even look real. ‘Is it dead?’ I asked, blurred by morphine. This was my first response to my only child. Beyond the apathy, nothing. In that moment, it may even have been all right if the blue unmoving thing were, in fact, dead. I was naked, listing like a sloop and on all fours. I didn’t feel like a mother. I didn’t even feel human. I’m not sure I knew who I was anymore, not really, or what I was supposed to feel. Thick felted tongue, that yolk-slow rolling of my eyes: a routi ..read more

The report is the child of the #Saynotobullyinginmidwifery Facebook Group founded by ARM member Amanda Burleigh in 2017. The writing of the report was a collaborative effort by a number of midwives, most of them ARM members, from the firsthand accounts of midwives and student midwives. It is truly grim reading but explains a great deal about the parlous state of our NHS maternity services, and the accelerating loss of midwives. ARM has made a financial contribution to printing copies for key parliamentarians of all parties and NHS senior managers. We hope it will provoke national debate and ..read more

Reading “Closure”, Becky Reed and Nadine Edwards account of the sabotage of the Albany Midwifery Practice (AMP) by managers at Kings College Hospital enraged me, made me cry, and woke me up in the night. It is just as well that Tim Smart, former CEO at Kings doesn’t drink in my local or he’d find my pint dripping over his head. Tim had to resign his subsequent role as Chairman of Southern Health after only 4 months in post due to dodgy shenanigans. This mediocrity on legs oversaw the closure of AMP, a midwifery service of proven excellence. His picture is here in case you find yourself next to ..read more

In March, ARM decided to support the Glasgow Women’s Library, the holders of the ARM archive, and honour Mary Cronk at the same time (see news 7th March 2022). Here is the latest update from Sue John the Director of Operations, Resources and Enterprise at the Glasgow Women’s Library: “We have been working with our designer, Kirsty McBride, to finalise the design to be printed on the wall that will then proudly feature the nominated names. We are working with Glasgow Print Studio to apply the design to the wall using a silk screening method, with individual names being added into the design by ..read more

I was surprised that the Sunday Times wasn’t full of the latest scandalous report into maternity services. Bill Kirkup’s report into East Kent showed a toxic culture that harms women, babies their families – and midwives. It was the same old story: rapid turnover of managers – none of whom were able to change anything, women weren’t listened to, mistakes were covered up, deaths were labelled ‘expected’ to avoid an inquest, poor teamwork, too many locums, too little consultant presence, passing the buck down to the lowly midwife or locum. None of the outside bodies brought in to suggest changes ..read more

The Baby on the Fire Escape Creativity, Motherhood, and the Mind-Baby Problem by Julie Phillips A Review by Lynn R S Genevieve From the captivating cover art, ‘Mother and Child’ by Alice Neel, to the community of ‘mothers and others’ in Julie Phillips acknowledgments at the end of the book, this text reverberates with honest reflections of artists as mothers, mothers as artists, that will resonate with anyone combining work and mothering. In a case of art reflecting life, a strange synchronicity occurred when just as I finished reading this book (that I’d received from the publisher som ..read more

Open Letter to the Board and CEO of the Royal College of Midwives 25 March 2022 We the undersigned seek the resignation of the RCM board and the CEO, with processes to elect a new board and CEO to be commenced as soon as possible; we await your early response. Since the publication of the Kirkup Report and more recently the Interim Ockenden Report there has been a concerted attempt to undermine and smear midwives, the midwifery profession, and to deny the legitimate experiences and wishes of childbearing women who wish to retain autonomy over their own bodies and births. These attempts have b ..read more

We the undersigned seek the resignation of the RCM board and the CEO, with processes to elect a new board and CEO to be commenced as soon as possible; we await your early response. Since the publication of the Kirkup Report and more recently the Interim Ockenden Report there has been a concerted attempt to undermine and smear midwives, the midwifery profession, and to deny the legitimate experiences and wishes of childbearing women who wish to retain autonomy over their own bodies and births. These attempts have been led by powerful actors in government and media. They have been biased and m ..read more

Mary Cronk and Lynn Genevieve Glasgow Women’s Library is the only accredited museum in the UK dedicated to women’s lives, histories and achievements, with a lending library, archive collections and innovative programmes of public events and learning opportunities. They have generously agreed to house ARM’s extensive archive which includes independent midwives’ clinical records. To mark their 30th birthday last year, they launched a new fundraising initiative, Women on the Wall, to help them in their ongoing work towards building a sustainable, green future. Women on the Wall fundraising will h ..read more