Midwifery Hour is a regular weekly event, discussing all things midwifery! It is now entering its ninth season. Sue Macdonald, as curator for both the Maternity and Midwifery festivals and Midwifery Hour, reflects on the last year, and the one just beginning.
New year new beginnings…
…and suddenly, we are here…. The Christmas songs are no longer playing on the radio, in the shops and all around us, and it is time to celebrate this New Year. This always includes looking back on the year just gone… and then starting to think about the coming year.
2022 was a strange and difficult year for many. The war in Ukraine impacted on so many people – people from Ukraine needed safe haven and, and as the conflict increased, it had worldwide impact on the supply and cost of fuel, food and many other products that we use every day. This, along with UK political events, has led to a financial crisis, with a massive increase in inflation and the cost of living. As a result, most of us are having to look more carefully at our household budgets to ensure that our households are warm, fed and cared for. This seems extra difficult after the past two pandemic years when we often weren’t able to travel or take holidays, and NHS and other key workers who have worked so hard to keep the show on the road must have been looking forward to some post-pandemic good times.
And as we neared Christmas, the industrial action being taken by so many workers, including our posties, rail workers, paramedics, nurses and, potentially, midwives posed an additional challenge. Making the decision to strike is hard, and many people feel that they are not being heard or listened to, and midwives need to be as politically astute and aware as possible.
The year has also seen the publication of a series of reports which make very uncomfortable reading. These include the review into maternity services in Telford and Shrewsbury, and the report on East Kent, with more to come in 2023. They have highlighted that many women and families experienced trauma, and as well as mortality and morbidity, in a toxic environment where they did not always feel listened to, communicated with, or fully cared for. Familiar issues of poor teamwork, and a blame culture compounded this. Alongside these reports, the MBRRACE report continued to demonstrate that black women and babies are 3.7 times more likely to die than white women giving birth, while for brown or Asian women the figure is 1.8 times,. This has reduced since the last MBRRACE report, but still need to be at the forefront of our minds in our care of women and their families.
Finally in the run up to Christmas and into the new year, there has been much press coverage of an NHS which is buckling under the strain of long-time insufficient funding, not enough midwives and other staff, and the ‘twindemic’ of excess covid and flu cases – on top of the ‘normal’ winter pressures.
Additional stresses have included lack of staff – especially midwives, a problem worldwide, which has added to the pressures of being busy, contributed to sickness levels, and possibly exacerbated the continuing problems of bullying. It also impacts on our ability to have effective continuity for women and families, and also, reduces satisfaction, as we cannot give the level of service we would wish to.
And let us not forget the effect on our student midwives, already stressed balancing a tough course, a very restricted budget, and coming into a clinical area which must seem very busy and confusing.
So, against this backdrop – world events, criticisms of midwifery practice which can feel very personal and an NHS which is buckling under the strain, how can we survive and even prosper? It would be easy and absolutely understandable to feel a bit hopeless, dispirited, and disempowered. We all came into the health service to make a difference, and have felt proud, and often joyful to be midwives.
Before looking forward to the next year, let’s not forget the positives from 2022. For me, these included the International Day of the Midwife, which was marked with many local and national events – in my area involving cake and little goody bags for the midwives and students. Then there was the ‘March with Midwives’ in November – showing the strength of love, and respect by women and families supporting midwives, and student midwives.
So instead of a New Year’s resolution…
I have a toolkit for this year to combat the negatives! This just takes a little time, but also requires you to stop for a moment, and make sure that you plan out some ‘you time’.
Firstly, recapture and remember why you first decided to become a midwife. Think about your entry and pathway as a midwife. Remember perhaps the pride you had as you entered the profession. Then spend a little time recalling a good day when you really felt that you did make that difference and went home happy and fulfilled.
Developing great teamwork will also help us get through – this means, as a team, acknowledging individual differences, attributes, and views, but valuing each. My experience has been that working in a supportive team, really can help you deal with the most stressful situations.
We need to actively be kind and compassionate to the women, birthing people, babies and families… BUT also to ourselves, and to those around us. On Twitter recently, there was the sad story of a medic, working over Christmas, who felt unvalued and uncared for, and was left out of coffee and snack breaks. The health service is a stressful place to be in just now, but we, as individuals can cope, and I think when we are together, we can get through difficult times together. Think about finding some small changes or opportunities to be kind and positive to your colleagues. Kindness and a smile cost nothing, but the impact can be huge, on you, on your colleagues, and overwhelmingly on the women and families we serve.
We need to look out for ourselves, and also our colleagues and our friends. Being kind and talking and listening costs nothing but our time and attention and can make colleagues feel more valued and cared for. This does include opportunities for breaks at work, and also for development opportunities, often in our time, which have huge benefits in terms of networking, and offloading in a safe environment
The last year has seen more students and midwives attending the face-to-face Maternity and Midwifery Forum events, and these have been a joy. The evaluations have emphasised that the programmes have been varied, appropriate and interesting, and overwhelmingly participants who have been able to attend face to face, have enjoyed meeting others, networking and sharing, and that made the buzz! The huge strength of the Maternity and Midwifery Forum offering though, continues to be that everything is recorded, and available, so people who couldn’t travel, either because of illness, work commitments or childcare or other caring commitment issues, if registered will still have access to the recording – for free. This is the Hybrid model, and perfect at a time when money is tight, and where people can’t always attend the face-to-face events.
As I plan out the programmes and content for the 2023 calendar, I want to say a huge thankyou to those of you who have attended the Festivals… whether face to face or online, and those of you who tune into the MM Hour every week. That includes a sincere warm thank you to you for what each of you do, and contribute, and also for the very active participation. I love the buzz of the Festivals, when we get amazing questions, discussions and debate, during session and through to the breaks.
Over this year, the Maternity and Midwifery Forum will be providing Festivals all over the UK and Ireland, and as ever these will be Hybrid – face to face, but also available on line if you can’t make it. We are working on ways to make the on line experience even more like the face to face … but if you can, come along in person, even if it is for a morning or afternoon.
Part of the offering since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the Maternity and Midwifery Hour. This was specifically designed to provide professional development and information at a time when it was not possible to meet, and time and energy was limited. This weekly one-hour session has been accessed by students and aspiring students, maternity support workers, midwives, neonatal nurses, doctors in maternity services, not only in the UK, but internationally. We are now on series 9… starting on the 11th January. At this point I must say that our wonderful speakers for the Maternity and Midwifery Hour have been not only generous with their time, but have provided exciting, challenging, and moving presentations. If you haven’t tried out the MM Hour, take a look at the top ten first!!
The MM Hour does feel as though I am having a cosy midwifery zoom meeting with my friends, talking about midwifery issues, and trying to find solutions and ideas for getting things even better. Many of you have provided smashing ideas for speakers and contents, and that has made me feel that my midwifery friends are very much part of this team… so please carry on. And if you have a project or piece of research you are working on, or if you have something you think needs saying, get in touch!!
The content has included career spotlights – finding out the pathway that midwives have taken to get where they are; midwifery education and training internationally; waterbirth; postnatal care, preventing perineal damage; care after a caesarean section; breastfeeding; and supporting women with complex needs. We are also increasing sessions on dealing with stress, and wellbeing. We need to stay healthy and stay safe, psychologically and physiologically.
I hope that you all got a real break over Christmas, and will look forward to the next season with you,
Love Sue
Sue Macdonald,
Curator Maternity and Midwifery festivals and Midwifery Hour
January 2023