Sometimes, even if you're very passionate about midwifery, you can get behind on what's happening.
Whether it's elderly relatives doing unexpected and interesting things, exams, or kids with chicken pox, you can fall behind on the news.
But knowledge is power, especially as there are such interesting and formative changes going on. I've put together a quick post on what I think are the most important issues are.
1. It’s happened, midwifery supervision is no longer part of the law
Supervisors of Midwives (SoMs) are not a legal requirement anymore.
SoMs were there to advocate for women, support midwives and identify safety concerns.
This change is because when issues with poor quality care were identified, The Nursing and Midwifery Council felt that SoMs had a conflict in their role: they were both supporting and regulating midwives.
In England, a new support system called A-EQUIP has been piloted and is being rolled out. To replace SoMs there are now ‘Professional Midwifery Advocates’ (PMAs).
In Northern Ireland and Scotland there are other arrangements.
The idea is to separate regulation (the ‘policing’ of midwives) and supervision (the support and assistance and advocacy role). The Nursing and Midwifery Council will now be in charge of the regulation bit.
This change in the law also means the midwifery committee which used to inform the Nursing and Midwifery Council about midwifery matters is now gone.
It’s has been replaced with a midwifery panel, and though this is a good thing overall, there is only a midwife available to advise the NMC one day a week.
2. The Independent Midwives Crisis Is Ongoing
You may have been following the independent midwives crisis. Independent midwives can't practice during labour and birth care right now because of an issue with their insurance.
You can read more here, essentially the Nursing and Midwifery Council have said there's an issue with independent midwives' insurance but won't say what or how to fix it.
There are some huge challenges for independent midwives around this, not least the legal fees for their fight, see crowdfunding campaign here (which is trending!!).
3. Many are talking about making a new midwifery regulatory body
The Nursing and Midwifery Council have to concentrate on far more nurses than midwives and therefore sometimes miss some of the finer points of the midwifery model of care.
This isn’t just my opinion.
Jackie Smith, Chief Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council did a radio interview recently where it was clear she didn’t understand the difference between a private midwife and an independent midwife.
(Private midwives are employed by private healthcare providers, independent midwives work for themselves, an important difference when it comes to supporting women’s choices).
There's a brilliant blog on how this new regulatory body might be set up. The blog is over at 'Born Stroppy', here: The Big Hairy Audacious Goal: New Midwifery Regulation
I know the Royal College of Midwives are not behind this move mainly because it might be expensive for midwives. Midwives need to pay for registration already and a small body would have fewer members to raise the needed funds.
But New Zealand, which is a country with far fewer people and less money has a Midwifery Council, rather than a Nursing and Midwifery Council...food for thought!
So these are my current midwifery facts!
I know it can be scary when there are such big changes going on in your profession. I suppose if these last few years have taught us anything, it's that change is constant. Things will always be moving on, this is to be expected.
But we do have control over how we act, what we put our energy into and what we'd like to build. Could a new midwifery council be the legacy of current midwives and activists? Let me know what you think in the comments, anonymously or nonymously (is that a word?!)
I’d also be especially interested to hear if A-EQUIP and PAMS have been rolled out in your trust and what your thoughts are so far.
Wholeheartedly support the idea of returning to regulation for midwifery as the needs/ focus of women are being lost in the current system
I find this all really sad. I do believe and have done for a number of years now, that there is a plan afoot to make Midwifery as we know it disappear! “Somebody”, up there, wants Midwives to be Maternity Nurses. Just look at how Midwifery in HE has been incorporated into schools of nursing with very little differentiation between the two. Midwifery autonomy is slowly being erroded and sadly, Midwives are allowing it. I just find it so sad that Midwives are not standing up and being counted and I think the RCM is the worst offender in not supporting midwifery.
I am scared! I am a 2nd year student midwife and fear that the profession that I aspired to join and that I am being prepared for is being dismantled before my eyes without a real fight being put up. Supervision no longer on the statute, NMC having extremely limited midwifery representation, bursary gone for new applicants meaning a drop in numbers and diversity of new student midwives and I could go on! We need to stand up for the profession we love – we are “with woman” and we need to stand together and take action to protect our profession and the service we give to our women every single day
Great summary of current hot topics. Thank you Ellie 🙂
Brilliantly outlines and highlights the issues for both women and midwives in the UK. The NMC appears to have an agenda to remove midwifery as a profession. They seem to believe that midwifery is a type of nursing. It isn’t! The beautiful, sacred and privileged work of the midwife is to birth strong, independent and empowered mothers. Strong women who hold families together. Independently minded women who challenge the status quo and look for a better future for their children. Empowered women who will not lie down and take the same old sh** for their daughters….or their sons. Women/mothers/midwives – strong! Independent! Powerful! I guess we must be scaring them otherwise why persecute us?
Please be those women and fight for our biological rights to birth where & when & with whom we choose!
Great article Ellie, totally agree with Marie’s comments here!