VTech Supports the Midwivesonline.com campaign: "More Midwives To Save Lives"

VTech Supports the Midwivesonline.com Campaign: ‘MORE MIDWIVES TO SAVE LIVES’

A UK-wide campaign has been launched to save the lives of mothers and babies who are at risk due to a national shortage of midwives.

Midwivesonline.com who offer much needed maternity advice for expectant & new parents, and provide information for health professionals, are campaigning on behalf of the mothers and babies whose lives are being lost due to a lack of appropriate care. They are also campaigning on behalf of the thousands of ‘over-stretched’ Midwives and the growing number of recently qualified student midwives who are without jobs. They are inviting people across the country to sign a petition demanding that the government lift the current freeze on NHS midwife vacancies; and increase the number of midwives being trained by 10 000 over the next two years.

This issue is one that is hitting the NHS hard, with negligence payments to women who have been injured during child-birth soaring to £1 billion. Figures released this month by Secretary of State for Health, Patricia Hewitt, showed that two thirds of the one hundred highest pay-outs over the last five years were made to women who were injured as a result of substandard maternity care.

A current freeze on NHS midwife vacancies is adding to the problem and forcing student midwives into unemployment when their skills are desperately needed. The NHS* has admitted that two-thirds of maternity units are understaffed, or have non-skilled health workers taking on tasks that should be done by a trained midwife.

Catharine Parker- Littler, Founder and Midwifery Director at Midwivesonline.com said, ‘This is an issue that affects everyone, mothers, fathers, children and grandparents because it strikes at the very heart of every family. A lack of midwives is putting the lives of mothers and babies at risk and the statistics clearly show there is a steep rise in the amount of avoidable injuries and deaths during childbirth. This is an unacceptable situation to have in the UK and we want to ask people to sign our petition to get this changed."

Statistics from CEMACH (Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health) back up these concerns. Their most recent report ‘Why Mothers Die?’ show that from 2000 to 2002, there were 391 deaths associated with pregnancy. Of these deaths, 261 were identified as maternal deaths* and more than 50% of these women had some aspect of substandard clinical care. Despite these shocking figures and a rising birth-rate in the UK, there are just 33, 363 midwives registered in the UK, over one thousand less than ten years ago, figures confirmed by the UK Nursing & Midwifery Council.

Go on line to join the petition here: www.midwivesonline.com