Across the world, rates of caesarean section and other interventions in labour and birth are on the rise. Worryingly, however, birth outcomes for mothers and babies are not improving in a clearly correlative way. In fact, maternal mortality in the USA has risen in recent years despite the country having one of the highest rates of intervention in the world.
Soo Downe OBE, Professor of Midwifery Studies at the University of Central Lancashire, has long argued that the decline of normal physiological birth, particularly in developed countries, is something to be concerned about. At the Northern Maternity and Midwifery Festival, she laid out the numbers that ought to give midwives and obstetricians pause and challenged some widely-held assumptions about interventions in maternity care.
She shared the stage with Sheena Byrom OBE, Editor of All4Maternity, who spoke about the need for midwives to take the time to create the optimal birth environment for labouring women and the importance of respecting the natural physiology of birth.
Our upcoming event: ALL- IRELAND 2020
Register your place here
The All-Ireland Maternity & Midwifery Festival will take place at Croke Park in Dublin on Tuesday 11th February 2020.
This midwifery revalidation training event will offer a top quality professional programme and a great opportunity for organisations looking to showcase their products and campaigns to our influential audience. Expect expert speakers, engaging seminars, plus our trademark, glitzy regional awards – all of which can count towards revalidation.
London 2019 saw over 1700 maternity and midwifery professionals and aspiring midwives come together to attend the London Maternity and Midwifery Festival or to watch the live stream.
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