Live webchat with NCT chief executive Belinda Phipps, Thurs 17 Sept, 1-2pm

[GeraldineMumsnet]

We're very pleased to welcome Belinda Phipps for a live webchat this Thursday.

Belinda has posted on threads discussing the NCT, eg this one in April. So we're glad she's coming on for a bit longer tomorrow and can respond to your comments and queries about the NCT.

We're going to send over any questions you've posted by the end of this afternoon for some advance answers, to leave as much time as possible for questions during the live chat.

Hope you can join us.

Please please answer the questions about the dress - it represents everything that is offensive: the commercialising of childbirth, and the sexist assumption that a woman needs to be sold a pretty outfit to feel "feminine" while giving birth FGS! What next- back-friendly stilettos to sashay home in after the birth? A maternity dress you can still pole-dance in? I am seriously appalled by the NCT associating itself with these kind of ideas- I mean, there'll always be some lookny stuff on the net to exploit those with more money than sense, but to have it come from a respectable source like the NCT

Question for Belinda - what is the NCT doing about the appalling lack of NHS midwives? They're in short supply, stressed and overworked - how can we give women in labour (and on postnatal wards) the care they deserve?

I have never been anywhere near the NCT in my life. I had a complete NHS birth experience and was a model pupil, conforming to the very clear hierarchy of birthing experiences as outlined by my MWs which included attendance at all my NHS antenatal classes, a natural, vaginal birth with no pain relief and extended breastfeeding. My HV loved me .

My NHS experience seems to have conformed with what some posters would classify as the NCT birthing model. Is this a sign that the NCT has successfully influenced the NHS?

Hi Belinda,

My question is about the magazine - could you make it a little less boring? Or at least have a bit more of a sense of humour - some funny articles perhaps?

I think if you did, you might get people being members of the NCT for longer. After all, your membership fee is very expensive.

Hello everyone

Its lovely to have the chance to chat ? or at least that?s what I thought before I read the huge number of comments ? I am not sure my typing will keep up ? but here goes.

A bit about me ? I am lucky enough to be CEO of the NCT. My background is as a scientist (microbiologist) and then 10 years in the pharmaceutical industry ? yes I know the ethics there are not good ? but it took me a while to spot that ? then an MBA and into the health service (CEO) ? Blood transfusion ? NHS trust ? ran a small publishing co for a while to ? had 3 children along the way (unmarried mum) ? but long term live in partner ? who I got round to marrying fairly recently.

Was born in the West Indies and lived in the Outer Hebrides ? had a profound influence on me ? very helpful to have lived in completely different cultures ? called my second child after the West Indian woman who cared for me. I am the eldest of 5 girls. Had all my babies at home ? and that?s where the NCT comes in ? read NCT info ? found out this was open to me ? endless hurdles put in the way by the health service ? but had all at home ? didn?t think much about it at the time ? later came to realise that I had had - by most peoples standards fabulous births and a very easy time afterwards ( well there were some notable exceptions ? but generally positive experience) ? including breastfeeding although I was ff myself ? was struck by the absolute horror stories I was hearing ? including from my own mum who had had a dreadful time.

Saw NCT ad ? thought don?t be silly you don?t want to do that ? but here I am and I love this role ? I am very lucky to have a job that must be the best in the UK.

What drives me ? a strong belief that what happens to us ? mothers and fathers and the babies in pregnancy at birth and in the weeks months and years of early childhood has a profound effect on mental and physical health of the people involved. An understanding that the links between people ? the community we are in makes a huge difference to our lives ? having others around you who know you and you know to turn to and to find out about things is very important. A belief that the experience of becoming a part is a very unifying experience and helps create a common bond that stretches across social class and culture.

What incenses me is that a job that is very tough is made much harder by poor services, commercial pressure, discrimination, poverty etc. Absolute fury that those mothers that die in and around childbirth ? are disproportionately among the disadvantaged in our society ? and that suicide is the biggest killer of women in the year post birth.

Furious that we who are in the process of taking on the most important job there is ? that of being a parent ? are not provided with evidence based information in a form we understand ? and told we are not allowed to do this or that ? are not listened to ? are not provided with the basics of what is needed when we are giving birth ? a midwife by our side who we know and trust.

I could go on but I am sure you get the gist

Belinda will be online any moment now

oops, x-post

Hi Belinda (Hello Gerry, do keep up )

Someone asked - What does a CEO do ? well I could post my job description ?but that is a rather boring read. It?s my job to manage the charity on behalf of the Board of Trustees ? who delegates the day to day management to me. I am also responsible for developing and proposing strategy and policy to the Board. The Board is accountable to its members and are required to run the charity for the benefit of all parents to be/parents of young children ? details in the charitable objects

www.charity-commission.gov.uk/ShowCharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithPartB.aspx?Regis teredCharityNumber=801395&SubsidiaryNumber=0

Day to day I divide my time between the actual managing ? running the team ? setting objectives ? all the usual work of managing a team of people. I keep in touch with volunteers and workers in the charity.

I keep in touch with the group of people that we are there for ? going out to meet parents to be and parents ? reading online stuff and reading research reports.

I keep up to date on research ? reading usually pre digested summaries of what is new ? attending meetings ad conferences and talking to others in the field.

My main role id however to look to the future ? thinking about what is needed and using the expertise of the very big NCT team to make sure we are doing things that make a difference for parents.

I also directly influence things ? meeting government ministers ? civil servants ? heads of other organisations ? RCM ? RCOG and many others - writing articles and letters and doing media work.

The fantastic NCT members and supporters make this possible by raising money to pay for the team that do this work enabling me to do my job and our thousands of volunteers and qualified workers also put in thousands of hours pushing for change in MSLCs ? talking to midwives ? helping individual parents ? answering calls on the lines etc.

Do you think the NCT should split itself so that there is a charity who campaign and provide bf support, and another organisation who run classes and meeting groups ?

Hello - thought you were always friendly

Belinda

Welcome Belinda

And I'm very impressed at your typing speed

Tamabajam you aasked aboiut bf and the line

We work very closely with the 3 other mother support breastfeeding orgs ? at meetings tog ? we are all part of the same coalitions ? NCT is the secretariat for the BMC(www.breastfeedingmanifesto.org.uk/index.php) ? in fact this coalition was set up by a student NCT breastfeeding counsellor at an NCT conference on breastfeeding. The bf support people from all the charities work together locally right across the UK. .

The orgs are different - with different origins and focuses.

The NCT worked for a long time to get a joint line set up with all 4 orgs ? but in the end we and La leche pulled out because we were not satisfied that what the end results was going to be was properly set up and sustainably funded. The line was later set up and funded better ? but still runs the risk in times of financial crisis. So we stayed with our own line ? holding out for better funding ? in fact we suggested it should become an NHS Direct service (in each country) ? to which the breastfeeding orgs could contract their trained bfcs ? however we haven?t won that one yet.

The wonderful NCT volunteers raise the money to fund the line (we get no govt money for it) ? and it costs us £2 or so per call and we take tens of thousands of calls a year. We also have a pregnancy and birth line ? and about to launch ? an early days line for anyone caring for a young child). Calls are answered by qualified antenatal, breastfeeding or postnatal NCT workers. The lines have been researched ? and we have a good spread across social class, age and ethnic background more info here www.nct.org.uk/info-centre/getting-help/helplines

Oh dvd sound good idea to me!

Do you think that there is an inner conflict in the NCT between being a campaigning charity, a provider of services (i.e. Antenatal courses), and, at a local level, being seen as a social group for yummy mummy?s?

And - should we spilt

In a word yes

It?s a difficult juggling trick to manage and we struggle with it every day ? there is no NCT anywhere else (except Ireland) ? usually all these elements are in separate organisations ? and often split by birth ? feeding and parenthood issues too ? so the power and effect that these organizations have is tiny ? and as in America ? bad things happen to the services supposed to be there for those becoming parents.

We stay as a single charity ? because we want be effective and because much as there are tensions ? there are benefits too ? ie we keep it real ? we are constantly identifying new issues from the parents we serve and the research that we do

We keep it together by re-organizing that the campaigning and lobbying work is to change the legal , policy and cultural frame work in which people become parents so they can have evidence based information to make the choices that are right for them with out pressure in any direction and then the support they need to carry the decisions out.

Once someone is in the transition ? its our job to support them ( whether they are a yummy mummy or a mummy or daddy that has any one of a number of disadvantages) ? to help them find the info they need ? to give them time and space and tools to take the decision to support to carry them out ? no judgment.

Now doing this is a really challenge ? our work is done by thousands ? of volunteers ? (probably between 10 and 16,000) and making sure that everyone knows this ? knows how do it and doesn?t let their own feelings show is almost impossible ? so we do the best we can ? which sometimes isn?t good enough and many time sis described as ?life saving?

Welcome Belinda
I can't get your link about the charitable objects to work- can you get a minion to look into it?

Could you split the bfing lines into smaller geographical area and focus on getting funding from PCTs in areas with low bf take-up and THEN expand nationally

maybe

We like the DVD idea - maybe you want to be in it

Belinda

whoops on the earlier post - in a word - yes it is a conflict - but no we plan to saty one charity - becuase we think we are more effective as one.

Belinda

volunteervole - am short on the minion front!!! Can you volunteer and help me out.

Belinda I like you, you give as good as you get.

morning paper - splitting the lines - an idea - but PCT funding is about to be slashed - and there are different systems in Scotland NI Wales and channel islands.

Yes, admittedly my idea is three years too late...