Humanising birth: hope for the future even in war Lesley Page – CBE Teresa Mc Creery – Sexual Health Reproductive Manager in Hawija hospital, Kirkuk, Iraq There can perhaps be no greater need for humanised birth than in situations where the extremes of dehumanisation prevail, situations of war and aftermath of war. Yet, it is […]
‘New to the UK’; A report from conference on the needs of immigrant, pregnant and migrant women held at Oxford Brookes University in November 2018 Carina Okiki – Student Midwife, Oxford Brookes University Catherine Williams – National Maternity Voices, also an NHS England regional Lay Member Lesley Page CBE This blog began as a conversation between […]
Should women’s right to maternal request caesarean section be promoted? Lesley Page – CBE Birthrights recently published a report on responses by individual hospitals in the UK to women’s requests for caesarean section. The new Lancet Series has raised once again one of the central challenges of maternity care: how to prevent both the underuse and […]
Round the world in midwifery : the humanisation of birth Lesley Page CBE Last week I travelled to Hong Kong and tonight I am on my way to Brazil, to lecture and do workshops on the humanisation of birth. The ICM has defined humanisation of birth as: “care that recognises the significance of birth for […]
Making a stand for women and midwifery Lesley Page CBE We have huge and fundamental changes to make in maternity care in all parts of the world, if we are to serve all women and their families around the time of birth the best we can. If midwives are to make their full contribution and […]
Time for Caseloading-creating relationships I sent a tweet to Jeremy Hunt Secretary of State for Health and Social Care yesterday. I don’t tweet Jeremy that often but this time I felt it was important. The British news over the weekend was full of midwifery, it even hit the Andrew Marr show on Sunday morning. We […]
The journey of pregnancy, birth and parenthood as transformation Leaving from the airport when I set off on my holidays a couple of weeks ago, I was struck by the huge vibrant graphic above the door as I went through security, reminding that every journey is a transformation. I immediately thought of the journey of […]
I met Agnes Gereb for the first time in 2012 in her light filled apartment in Budapest that was both her home and her prison. Agnes had been charged in 2008 with ‘manslaughter through negligence in the course of her professional practice’. This charge was based on the breathing difficulties and subsequent death of a […]
There can be no doubt that we should be implementing relationship-based continuity of carer for most women and their babies. The evidence has been mounting over years and is compelling: there are few developments that offer so much benefit, with fewer risks (See http://www.gtc.ox.ac.uk/images/stories/academic/skp_report.pdf). It is difficult to understand why this evidence is still seen […]
‘A child is born’ …and then? How will that life unfold? Will this baby be well and healthy at birth, with a mother who has been wrapped around in loving care, not only in her childhood and life, but also in pregnancy, labour, birth and the early weeks of life? Will this baby be […]
