Live webchat with Royal College of Midwives CEO Cathy Warwick, 13 October 1 - 2pm

[KateHMumsnet]

Today, midwives in England are due to go on strike. Midwives and thousands of other health service staff are taking action after the NHS Pay Review Body’s recommendation of a 1% pay rise for all staff in England was rejected earlier this year by the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. It’s the first strike over NHS pay in more than three decades, and the first-ever strike by the Royal College of Midwives, which nevertheless has the backing of 82% of its members for industrial action.

RCM Chief Executive Cathy Warwick will be joining us for a webchat on Monday from 1 - 2pm to answer your questions about the strike, and about maternity services in general. Please do join us live on the day, or post your questions in advance on this thread.

The strikers have 100% of my support. Something has to be done to raise awareness of how pressed and put upon workers in the NHS are. Also I'm booked for induction of my twins on Thurs so if I can support u everyone should!

We don't have a problem attracting students. However the attrition rate is huge. Then we struggle to recruit NQ midwives and the ones we get often leave within a few months.

@OneSkinnyChip

If this is a thread for general questions about maternity services I would like to ask about midwives' training and their attitude to ELCSs.

My experience was that most of the MWs in our hospital had plenty of time to stand around at reception having a chat but were apparently too busy to provide pain relief at the right time or any practical assistance the day after my CS. I got a very strong feeling that they thought my pain was my own fault for having an ELCS, which I did for reasons connected to my medical history but not necessarily reasons I wanted to share with every midwife who asked (most of them I saw once and never saw them again because of shift changes).

So my question: what is your organisation's attitude to ELCS (as agreed by a consultant) and how are your members being encouraged to support women post-ELCS? And do your members have some archaic sense that women who have ELCSs are 'too posh to push'? If so, what is being done to challenge this view?

OK, meaty question! I could spend hours on this one.

So, bad attitudes to any woman are not acceptable to the RCM. Women are all different, and give birth to their babies in different ways and they all need high quality support. Most of our members certainly don't have negative attitudes to caesarians, but I guess there are always some exceptions to the general rule. Clearly, after a major operation, pain relief will be needed and certainly midwives should be ensuring women get that and are comfortable. I would certainly challenge any midwife I met with this view, and I always tell stories like this when I give talks at conferences and make the point that midwife means with all women, NOT with some women!

@SauvignonBlanche

Hi Cathy,

Do you think you'll ever persuade the RCN to join you in any future action?

Wish we could!

@slithytove

I have been lucky enough to have my last baby (home vbac after a stillbirth and early failed induction leading to CS) with 121 midwives. It was brilliant.

I avoided a repeat CS which the consultant wanted to book me in for at 36 weeks, saving myself unnecessary surgery and the NHS money. The case loading made me feel very secure in my midwife and I trusted her completely. A total contrast to my previous 2 pregnancies.

Is this the future of maternity services in the uk?

I also support the strike. 1% is nothing and should be given annually in my opinion.

One to one offer excellent continuity of care, and I think improving continuity of care throughout maternity services would be fantastic.

@44plus1

If I'd have been due to give birth this week, I'd feel deserted at a time of desperate need. What safeguards are in place for mothers to be this week?

I hope I've been able to reassure women on this thread, bottom line is that we have advised our members that women and babies must come first. All essential services are exempt from any action, and in fact a midwife would be breaking her professional code if she didn't keep women and babies safe. I know it may feel hard for women, and I'm really sorry about that. But please believe me, you won't be left alone!

Thanks everyone for all your questions! It's really important to the RCM to hear from our members and from women and I really enjoyed that. I hope I can come again and join you all! And good luck to everyone, whether you're pregnant, a midwife, a supporter or a challenger.

"We don't have a problem attracting students. However the attrition rate is huge."

God yes Viva. So far my cohort has only lost 1 on a permanent basis but we are half way through now and I'm at breaking point. I have spent the past few weeks randomly bursting into tears. Yet all we get is "you knew it was a tough course". Yes. Yes I did. And yes, I want to complete it because I want this career. But bloody hell it shouldn't be like this. It shouldn't have this much of a negative effect on my family. Some cohorts ahead of us are halved by the time they get to graduation.

Thank you Cathy for taking the time to talk to us

Thankyou Cathy

just in case anyone is still reading, visitors were allowed in HDU but I didn't have any (apart from DH for a few minutes) but I didn't have any because my inlaws and DH were all looking after my other 4 DC's and my family are 3 hours drive away. Midwives kept asking me where my mum was and when DH would be coming back and I was worried that they judged me for not having anybody there. I was wondering if most people have all their friends and relatives crowding round the bed and mopping their brow or if that just happened on tv . I found on the postnatal ward the first time mums mostly had their partners all day and various other people at visiting times, while 2nd+ time mums were on their own most of the day and then the partner visited with the other DC's at visiting time in the afternoon.

Thanks so much Cathy, and thanks for answering my question!

I have a 7.5 month old and he had chesty cough, wheezing, runny nose, sneezing, and gags occasionally, symptoms r worse at night and have got progressively worse over the last 24 hours, has had symptoms for at least 4 days now and iv been giving him benylin cough syrup for 3+ months and neurofen ibuprofen for 3+ months occasionally to help with teething as he won't take bongela calgel or dentinox gel or powder and has 6 teeth coming through all together, do u think he has a chest infection of some sort and is it worth going to accident and emergency or just treat him at home and c gp on monday?