surprised that there isn't a thread on the midwife being struck off and the

[2shoes]

call for independant midwives to be made to have insurance only link I could find to story

about time imo

but this does beg the question as to why any one would allow an unisured midwife to attend to thier birth, yet would expect a mechanic/builder and so on to be insured..,...

Independent midwives cannot get insurance. Are we saying there should be no independent midwives?

It should of course have been made clear to the mum that this midwife had no insurance.

2shoes, because you don't have any choice. There is no insurance for independent midwives. So if you want an independent midwife, you have to accept they will not be insured. Or the Department of Health and Royal College could call the insurance companies in for a stiff telling off and make some arrangements for risk-sharing or something, I dunno. But I doubt there are enough votes in it for politicians to bother.

In this case, the midwife didn't tell her client - that's enough to get her struck off anyway without the bodged birth and injuries to mother and daughter.

imo yes if they can't get insurance they shouldn't work.
and yeas I am talking from the position of someone who had a breeze of a birth and a near dead baby.
so thinks can go wrong, so quickly, and if like in this case it is the midwifes fault, the mother and child
should have recourse and compensation,.

2shoes, it's a good question. I suppose that on balance, women who choose an IM in the full knowledge of the no insurance issue have decided that the probability of a better outcome outweighs the potential loss of compensation. It's a gamble, which certainly pays off for the majority.

Not this poor family, though . If the case is as it has been reported, it is appallingly tragic, and the midwife has failed in the most dreadful way.

I doubt that any IM wants to operate without insurance. I assume they are still liable and can be sued as such and risk losing their homes along with their livelihoods. The fact that they are prepared to operate at such great personal and financial risk to themselves propbably speaks volumes about their commitment and belief in offering women their services.

HB definitely not 'loopy'. But I'm not totally convinced it's quite as safe a bet as a lot of the people who are keen on it believe (despite knowing a lot of people who've had HBs and raved about them).

but as said before independent midwives are uninsurable and are obliged to inform their client this at the outset. Failure to do so is a breach of their registration and code of conduct.
The report clearly shows that this midwife was not fit to practice , basic precautions were not taken and procedures not followed. She was a walking time bomb.
Poor mother and child.

The govt are planning to ban independent midwives exactly for this reason, which will be a total disgrace. As it has been stated midwives want insurance, they just can't afford it. Obstetrics is the most litigious area in medicine, cases often settle for 6-10 million pounds. How can a woman on 30-50 grand a year possibly buy into that?
I employed an independent midwife for my 2 and 3 babies but was made completely aware about the lack of insurance. I choose to go down the independent route because of my 1st experience which was in the nhs. I wanted someone who would use their clinical judgement and experience, rather than following a rigid set of rules. I was very lucky to be able to do this

Full details of the hearing :

www.nmc-uk.org/aDisplayDocument.aspx?DocumentID=7430

The charges didn't only realte to the labour and birth but to the ante natal care provided.

You can check the registration details of any independent midwife on the NMC site - including details of any previous misconduct hearings and the outcome of those. Many disciplinary hearings don't end in nurses or midwives being struck off - a lot of people continue to work under supervision or caution orders, of which their patients/clients may not be aware.

Personally I wouldn't have a homebirth - but if I did it would be with and NHS midwife, who had the support,training etc from NHS and not someone who worked on their own, with no insurance, no guidelines etc. I'd honestly question why a midwife would choose to be an independant midwife and imagine that some are doing it because hteycan't get work with NHS

After the first time she found glucose in the mother's urine, the midwife should have referred her to the obstetrician for further tests, imo. Then the gestational diabetes would have been diagnosed, and the size of the baby would have been discovered too - and either of these factors would have led to the mother being strongly advised against a home birth.

This woman was terribly let down by her midwife, and striking the midwife off was the only correct course of action.

This case does make clear the need for a code of practice specifically for independant midwives - perhaps some sort of body like the trade associations for builders and plumbers, or removal companies, so that membership of such an association would demonstrate that the midwife had fulfilled the conditions of membership - like, for example, keeping your professional skills and development up to date, periodic inspections etc. Such a group could have its own complaints procedure, and might also have sufficient clout to get insurance for its members.

on Jeremy Vine Now

this case is very odd isn't it

if the midwife was so bad (as the report suggests) it seems odd that the mother didn't realise this at any point

the whole case is quite extraordinary

I did wonder, on initially reading it, whether the birth just went horrifically wrong and the midwife went into shock and broke down completely

good point mp. there are after all two sides to eveyr story.

Just listened to the Jeremy Vine show - heartbreaking, horrific stuff. The insurance issue is important obviously but it wouldn't change the fact that the midwife just totally failed in her professional duties with devastating results. Shoulder dystocia can be catastrophic in a hospital environment too and also result in the injuries that this baby sustained. You put such trust in the healthcare professionals when it comes to childbirth and it's a tragedy when they fail you whatever the birthing environment.

well one report I read sounded as though the midwife flipped and then locked herself in the toilet (which is why she didn't get in the ambulance)

Now I dunno if that is true, but if so, she was either totally bonkers and the client hadn't noticed (which seems unlikely) or she just lost the plot

I've briefly commented on this story in AIBU.

I had gestational diabetes. I also booked a home birth with an independent midwife. My birth also involved shoulder dystocia (baby was a whisker off 11 lbs).

The difference in my situation was that, having been advised to have my baby in hospital by my obstetrician, I chose knowingly to opt for a home birth in full awareness of the risk to me and my baby.

My midwife had a back-up with her, who helped at the moment of birth. We had all discussed the procedures for dealing with shoulder dystocia (which I knew was a possibility as a scan had suggested my baby was over 10lbs).

I also had my MIL in the house, who was an A&E nurse with 20 years experience under her belt. Finally I had a friend, who'd worked as a maternity support worker, whose 'job' at my birth was to alert the emergency services (all details were taped to the phone) should they be needed. She did end up phoning them but we were able to send them away as the midwives resolved the problem without their help. I also live (literally) five minutes drive from the hospital.

I cannot imagine why this midwife encouraged the mother to deliver in the pool, and why she was alone at the delivery. In any delivery which involves a strong possibility of a sd you would want a second midwife present, at home or in hospital.

I'd like to hear the midwife's explanation of what happened. Often these cases are reported in a very partial way.

Re: wanting an NHS midwife for a homebirth.... Not in my case. I wanted a midwife who had years and years of experience of attending homebirths, and experience of dealing with high risk births out of a hospital environment. You won't find many in the NHS who have that sort of experience. My mw has done twin hb, breech hb, and other mothers with big babies/gestational diabetes. She is an outstanding practitioner as are all the other midwives in the practice.

And IM are supervised, have to update their training regularly and are expected to act by the same code of conduct as NHS staff. My midwife also received backing in her management of my pregnancy and birth from an NHS consultant midwife at a large London teaching hospital.

"I'd honestly question why a midwife would choose to be an independant midwife and imagine that some are doing it because hteycan't get work with NHS"

I know a few IM. Almost to a woman, they've chosen to work outside the NHS because they feel they can't provide safe and optimal care for women within the NHS - such are the crap conditions that many midwives are working under in hospital.

Some of our most high profile midwives like Mary Cronk MBE and Caroline Flint (former head of the Royal College of Midwives) have had long careers as independent practitioners......

Standanddeliver - she refused to attend the NMC hearing (as was her right) had she done so she would have been able to put across her side of the case, but chose not to.

Totally agree re Mary cronk, she is one indpendent midwife (sadly retired) who managed to deliver mAny complex births including breech and twins. You wouldn't catch many midwives doing that anymore, I would always choose a midwife who had years of experience who can deal with a situation rather than someone in the nhs, who would call a doctor as soon as the birth starts deviating from text book. And before you know it the knives are ready!

Sassybeast, there may well be other reasons why she did not attend the hearing, the thing is we just don't know.

I feel sick reading that That poor woman and poor poor baby. What kind of insane bitch practises midwifery without knowing what the fuck she is doing?

I thought she put her case across in writing?

Inbuilt - she responded to the allegations in writing but if you read the NMC report, it was only to admit to the allegations, not to explain them.

Standanddeliver - one of the charges against her related specifically to the fact that she DIDN'T update and maintain her preofessional knowledge and skills - tha charge was also proved.

I read the NMC report last night here . Her failures to record even basic observations is astonishing.

I agree with PictureThis - just find it so odd that she didn't record things like blood pressure and fundal height.

I also find it bizarre that there was no second midwife present or on standby, as she must have known there could be complications with such a large baby.