Interested in your experiences with midwives

[Sussexmidwife]

I was talking with a student midwife recently who said that there has been no mention of surrogacy during her training & she has never come across it in practice. I have been involved in several cases, some straightforward happy outcomes and some very difficult situations. I am aware that some of my colleagues get very anxious (or are less than comfortable). A few years ago I was asked to facilitate a session at one of the universities about complex journeys to parenting, but this has now been cut from the programme. I am interested in what experience both IPs and surrogates have had of maternity services & am thinking I may offer some informal sessions for student midwives. Any thoughts?

Hi @Sussexmidwife

Are you aware that there are current plans to introduce new laws regulating surrogacy in the UK?
The public consultation ended last October and the Law Commissioners are drawing up proposals to present to parliament.

I have LOTS of information and links I can give you if you are unaware.

The commissioners did not consult with either the RCM or the RCOG in preparing their proposals.

Key changes include:

Giving legal parent status to the commissioning parents at birth, erasing the rights of the mother.

Lifting the ban of advertising.

Looking at ways to pay surrogate mothers whilst still maintaining a fiction that this is not a commercial arrangement. (Their own research shows that the current going rate is a tad under £15k with a trend towards topping £20k).

marylousingleton.wordpress.com/2017/08/26/amicus-brief-to-scotus-opposing-the-exploitation-of-women-by-the-commercial-surrogacy-industry/?fbclid=IwAR0aJ7aC03tmeEF62t6laX3S2vQ0YWYFRtrm8xJrXHTR2gLWp1qmWVfYHXw

Bumping for you OP

@Sussexmidwife

I encourage you to listen to this brilliant podcast, the wide ranging discussion includes consideration of "birth worker" (USA) education.

www.freebirthsociety.com/blogs/the-free-birth-podcast/to-buy-a-baby-you-must-first-rent-a-woman-with-marylou-singleton-surrogacy-series-part-1-of-3

Posting as I thought it was relevant

www.facebook.com/1142853142513655/posts/1878681508930811/?d=n

I gave birth to a surrogate baby last year at a big teaching hospital, our support from the midwifery team was excellent including facilitating an hour with us to develop a bespoke birth plan, allowing both the IPs into the birthing room along with my partner, providing them a private room for skin to skin after the birth (and letting me go home to bed!), and providing appropriate letters and documents to support our discharge. They had recent experience of other surrogate pregnancies to draw upon.

I think experiences probably vary depending on your provider, and you would have to do some research to determine if there is an unmet training need. Surrogacy is rare in the UK so many health professionals may not have encountered it.

Hi @Sussexmidwife
I sent you a pm.