Midwives not striking

[Lj8893]

So even though over 80% of midwives voted for industrial action, because less than 50% RCM members actually voted they can’t strike. (In England).

So many midwives didn’t receive their ballot papers, it’s such a shame.

Genuine question - please excuse my ignorance, I don't understand how these things work. If you brought in on call staff and kept the service running, what would be the point?

They only needed another 820 completed ballots (either yes or no) for the result to have enabled a strike! I did not receive a ballot!

I hope there will be another ballot asap, a better organised one this time. Is there a time l8mit on how long before another vote is allowed?

I don’t know how it works if MW are on strike but I support them 100%.

Today women will have been unsafe or had treatment that’s not as good as it could or should be due to poor staffing. That is due to poor pay and conditions of MW leading to a training, recruitment and retention crisis.

You only have to look at a handful of threads on MN to read women’s recent experiences.

MW and nurses are striking for better conditions which in turn positively impacts patients. I’m sure these are not easy decisions.

Totally agree. I’ve not given birth since 2013 and it was bad enough then, women need midwives who get their proper breaks and aren’t stressed out of their minds.

I had a wonderful experience giving birth in a midwife led unit in 2020. Very worried about baby due next month.

I personally don’t think a birth centre or homebirth is a luxury, hence the “”. But they are certainly treated as one, barely staffed and the first thing to suspend when staffing is poor (most of the time).

It will be very interesting to see what happens when Wales strikes (they got enough votes).

The irony is many midwives can’t afford to strike! Many of them make up thier wages with frequent bank shifts (overtime) and enhancements (nights, weekends, bank hols).

Well there will be no industrial action when you are due so don’t worry about that.

Who ever looks after you will do their very best, just as I’m sure your community midwife has done, but if there are any shortfalls in their care that will most likely be due to lack of breaks, overworked, maybe even the fact she’s looking after another lady (1:1 labour care should be standard but often isn’t).

But saying that, if you had a very positive experience in the height of covid then you may not find a big difference this time!

The midwife led birthing centre near me has closed as they can’t staff it.

I get while people are nervous at healthcare strikes but I really think some think it’s just about pay and being greedy when in reality we are all working in precarious conditions due to poor staffing. Patient safety is already at risk most days due to this strike or no strike. The NHS is collapsing under demand and staff already burnt out and leaving/going off sick like never before.

The roles aren’t attractive anymore. Who wants to be healthcare professionals: 3 years at uni, debt, start at low pay, work 12.5 tough days andthrough breaks and well past finish times, covering the work of more staff that just don’t exist anymore, risk pins and registrations every day ( with a risk of prosecution too) when it’s not your fault there are no staff! Pensions always mentioned as a perk and while good have been messed with by this government and aren’t what they used to be, while the annual leave is good people often work their leave to get extra money. Often being begged by their managers to’help’

I didn't get mine. I contacted them and still didn't receive it. Very disappointed as something needs to change.

The on call staff are the ones who are on call for emergencies - so if you unexpectedly gave birth at home, or were planning a homebirth and declined to go in, then you'd still receive safe intrapartum care - we shouldn't be called in just to prop up low staffing (and would refuse to do so)

Basically there would be enough on to ensure those who go into labour are safe (also there are some who are RCN or Unison who wouldn't be striking at the the same time - so likelihood is they would try to get those to work those days) but anything that can be put off would be - all inductions and so on would be stopped, any planned sections rearranged, any antenatal appointments, breastfeeding support etc

I was the same, I gave birth in 2017 and was due again last January. Not sure if January is a low birth month but there were more staff and the care was even better than in 2017.

I left midwifery because a lot of our work was starting to be being done by HCA’s, so there was no more ‘with woman’.
I couldn’t work like that.

Correct. Under the Law industrial action ballots have to be conducted by postal ballot. Electronic balloting isn't an option.

My union, a separate one, has done all its voting electronically. Perhaps the NHS professions unions need to take this up?

It's infuriating what the current government are doing to the public sector and the country,
.
A decade long pay freeze (more or less) and an utter refusal to increase pay by more than a tiny amount in the face of soaring inflation. Many of these positions pay barely above minimum wage, and in fact some have failed to keep up with increases in NMW forcing the lower grades in the NHS and Civil Service to be scrapped because they've been overtaken by the NMW despite being skilled jobs.

Plus it's a vicious circle, we can't recruit or retain because pay and conditions are so poor, which exacerbates the poor conditions due to staff shortages, especially in the NHS. No wonder nurses, midwives etc aren't completing their degrees once the reality of the situation hits home during their placements.

And yet we still get emails from ministers, even the current PM telling us how much we're valued and their vision for a 'world class' NHS or Civil Service, while at the same time blatantly telling public sector employees to put up and shut up and failing to lead by example by following all the 'values and behaviours' that we're expect to uphold (which are absolutely fine, I have no argument about not being allowed alcohol at the public's expense, or not being allowed to use my contacts to gain advantage for my friends and family, I just don't see why it shouldn't apply to everyone from the government downwards).

To be clear, it hasn't been the actual strike ballot that's been done electronically it was the vote to reject the pay 'rise' and an indicative ballot about strike action that was done like that.

I wasn't aware that strike ballots had to be done by post, which is ridiculous in this day and age, but I don't know if all frontline NHS workers for example have their own email address? But they must all have 'an email address' used for their professional registrations etc, which is the same organisation as the union isn't it? NMC, RCN?

Just wanted to say how sorry I am that you're having to work in these conditions. It really is shocking. I'm in a high risk pregnancy at the moment and am seeing the hard work of midwives all the time, and also seeing how ridiculously stretched they are. Solidarity to you all, and thank you for all you do.

Sad for the midwives but at 34 weeks pregnant with a high risk pregnancy I’m selfishly relieved - I’ve had a wonderful midwife team this time around and would be worried without them.

It’s not just sad for the midwives though. Midwives want to strike to make care better for women. It’s not all about pay.

Strikes or no strikes I'm terrified what to expect when I give birth soon. I had my first during covid and it was horrendous to put it bluntly.

It’s so sad to hear this.
I hope everything goes well for you.

RCM a have asked everyone to return their ballot papers even if it’s late. Have a look at their Twitter feed.

It suggests just so they can see what the outcome would have been if all ballot papers had been received. I don’t think it will change the actual results.

With backfill, the nurses strike probably hasn’t been too bad. The ambulance strike next week through is scary. People may well die and it sits very uncomfortably. I’m not sure how easily it would be to backfill midwives but it’s hard to see what could be easily stopped- it doesn’t feel as straight forward as cancelling operations on the nursing side.

I’m getting majorly pissed off with RMT train strikes now and I do worry that the anger will spill over into health care staff (who I think do have a much worse deal). It’s all a mess really but I’m not convinced industrial action is going to be the way to fix things when patients will suffer.