Petition to recruit 5000 more NHS midwives - 4 days left

[ninjasquirrel]

I've just signed this petition. It closes just before noon on Tuesday. 69,295 people have signed it, and if it gets up to 100,000, Parliament is supposed to debate it.

epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/13716

More information about the midwife shortage

Apologies for cross-posting in Pregnancy and here.

Done.

But it's not just midwives is it? It's obstetricians, anaesthetists, and neonatologists as well. The whole service is understafffed.

We need more midiwives but sadly we also need to ensure they are better trained. Just read a post from a midwife to a woman with severe tokophobia saying that 'she is very pro natural birth and doesn't support women choosing caesarean section' Choosing? The poor woman was terrified and desperate for a c/s.

We need more midwives and there are many brilliant ones but there are also rude, insensitive, callous ones whose main focus seems to be controlling women's choices and promoting their natural childbirth agenda.

I would not want 5,000 more of them. Happy to sign a differently worded one calling for better maternity care.

Its not recruitment thats the problem, its retention because they are expected to work in such awful conditions.

It is recruitment. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of positions not filled because the health trusts have not the money to recruit. Its pretty dire put there.

Signed the petition ages ago.

It's both recruitment and retention. Some of those who come across as rude or callous might be much better if they weren't stressed out and were working with staffing levels which enabled them to give a proper standard of care. (And more staff would mean that those who were genuinely callous and rude could be replaced.)

It disappoints me its had so few signatures. I can't understand why women aren't more pissed of and angry about the shit service they are getting.

bump! I seid and posted ages ago, shocking that its not reached its target!

I signed this ages ago, totally agree with what Baddayattheorifice said. There are good and bad in every profession but that doesn't change the fact that there are not enough midwives and women are suffering as a result!

Desperate bump!

Signed

Signed

What are you expecting health trusts to cut to fund this? Or what would you be cutting from other public services to increase the NHS budget to cover this?

I'm all for quality and not quantity.
I have signed as agree that we need more MW's and then the pants MW's should be sacked.
Sadly in the NHS we have too many staff that have a job and are very secure thank you so treat you like dirt.
I feel it's not just MWs we need it's a better maternity service period we are miles behind other countries and it's awful that we are forced to pay into it and can not opt out of a genuinely poor service.
Sorry to rant but, at 38wk I personally have a pants local maternity unit an awful MW who is unsupportive at best and incompetent realistically.
More than anything it's the lack of care that has made me greatful that I don't want anymore kids and at a point were I feel my family is complete, and think that's sad. Even my hubby thinks the treatment we preggie ladies get is appalling and he's a laid back soul that doesn't normally comment. rant over...honest

FourGremlines brilliant post and that is exactly how I feel ..and on the other hand I also feel so bad because there are SOME genuinely hardworking, lovely midwives out there.

Exactly like you say, it is qualitya s well as quantity but if we are talking about quantity it is as much about obstetricians and anaesthetists. If midwives would work more positively with other professionals and call for better services, then I'd be all for signing.

Yours wasn't a rant, Fourgremlins just the truth and it is a hard thing to say when we know there are loads of midwives lurking on this thread and some of them are the good ones!

Bump. I am surprised this hasn't reached 100,000 yet. As PP have said, we need more employed MWs, and we also need to be able to sack the ones that aren't giving the level of care women and babies deserve.

The petition is at 73,175. We need 100,000. C'mon!

Could people post the link on FB/Twitter to get some momentum going please?

sign here

It is being proposed by the Head of the Royal College of Midwives, Prof Cathy Warwick. She knows what she is talking about!

The petition closes tomorrow (Weds), at 11.53am, so we need to get our collective skates on!

Bumping. 74215 signatures so far!

More than have 1000 have signed since I posted earlier on. Can people pease sign and bump. Ta!

sign here

Ta fbadger