Pregnant women planning to give birth outside the hospital with the help of a midwife have been left in the dark as maternity hospitals have closed due to an ambulance strike.
NHS trusts across the country have informed patients that maternity hospitals, staffed by midwives and within ambulance range of the hospital, can only give births at 6am on Thursday.
The decisions were made because the union’s actions mean there is no guarantee that ambulances or paramedics will be able to visit midwife-led units to get patients to the hospital when there are complications but not life-threatening conditions.
Frome Maternity Hospital in Somerset, Penrith Maternity Hospital in Cumbria and St Mary’s Maternity Hospital in Leicester are among the facilities forced to close as a result of the strikes. Eastbourne’s midwifery department also suspended operations until January 12. about the increased risk to mother and child.
The home birth service, in which a midwife attends births at the patient’s home, has in many cases been discontinued for the same reasons.
Sam Irving, 36, who is 40 weeks pregnant with her second child, shared I Her midwife told her on Tuesday that if she gave birth before services returned to normal at 6 a.m. Thursday, she would no longer be able to give birth at home.
Her second choice, giving birth in a unit run by midwives, also failed because of the strike.
Ms Irving said: “They never said, ‘If you continue…’ they just said the home birth was delayed so you can’t have it. You must call Peterborough Hospital and go to Peterborough Hospital if you went into labor between 5:00 pm yesterday and 6:00 am tomorrow.
“She [the midwife] also told me that because I chose Melton Mowbray OB they said they also stopped their services because it is run by a midwife and they can’t take me to the doctor when I need it.
Ms Irving, who lives in rural Lincolnshire about 40 minutes from the hospital, said she wants to give birth at home after she “didn’t have a very good time” giving birth to her first child in the hospital.
“I would rather be in the comfort of my own home and there were many other factors that made staying at home more comfortable. Also, I live quite far from the hospital. I live in the wilderness. I didn’t want to drive on country roads to give birth,” she added.
The news of the end of home births and obstetric services has made the final stages of her pregnancy even more stressful, she said.
“It’s a little more tense… Up until now I was hoping he would come, and then of course I hope he stays at home today, so it’s not a very comfortable feeling. With what we went through last time, even my husband said, “I really hope you don’t have to go to the hospital.”
Despite going into labor with her first child seven hours later, Ms Irving said she was “stuck in one room for 15 hours” and delayed because the surgeon had to correct mistakes in the midwife’s follow-up care.
She said, “They made me give birth on my back and pulled my legs up, which basically destroyed my coccyx and I couldn’t walk for weeks.”
The experience prompted her to consider a home birth anyway, which she is legally entitled to, but her husband was “nervous because there was no midwife”.
Samantha Gadsden, doula and founder of the Home Birth Support Group in the UK, said more women who had to face the postcode lottery to give birth of their choice are opting for a free birth – their baby without the help of a midwife.
“Some trusts tell them that the midwife will not come, but if you call and say that I will not come, they will send a midwife. There will definitely not be another certainty, and it is a bit of a lottery as to what will happen. These women have no real way to know for sure, even if the trust says it’s closed.
“It means more women will be born free. This means that other women who do not feel capable of being born free have no choice.”
Ms Gadsden said the restrictions imposed by the strikes will affect freestanding midwifery stations, which will need ambulances to transport women to hospitals if necessary.
“I know that some independent obstetric centers were closed during other strikes for the same reason,” she said.
However, she added that the closure of maternity hospitals, regardless of the strike, is a problem and that the withdrawal of choice for pregnant patients is “a growing trauma”.
Ms Gadsden said: “There is, however, national concern that home birth services in the UK are closing due to the midwifery workforce crisis, and if you add the ambulance strike to that, that is another justification for trusts to close home birth services.
“Trusts are not required to do this…some trusts leave stay-at-home orders open and allow families to make their own decisions.”
Ms Irving said she understands why paramedics are on strike, but it was “terrible” to feel like she had no control over how she was going to give birth and wished the trusts were better able to support pregnant women during strikes.
“We think it’s unfair that someone else can decide if I get what I want in delivery or not. This is my last child and I wanted him to be special and enjoy this time, not the other way around.
“I don’t think that’s really fair to anyone.”
Dr Karen Dunderdale, Director of Nursing and Associate General Manager of the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The safety of our patients and their children remains our top priority, and due to the increased risk to mother and child, there should be no emergency services. ” available in an emergency, we have decided to suspend home delivery until Thursday, January 12th.
“We understand that not having a planned birth experience can be frustrating for women, and the lead midwife has contacted all mothers-to-be giving birth at home around this time to explain the reasons and answer any questions to answer that they may be having a birth pregnancy. childbirth in the hospital.
A spokesman for the North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, which is in charge of the Penrith Penrith maternity hospital in Cumbria, said: “The trust has put in place a number of plans to deal with the expected impact of strikes from the North West Ambulance Service. One is that a very small number of women who were due to give birth at the Penrith maternity hospital during the interruption were contacted and alternative arrangements were made. We have done this so that any complications can be treated without the need to call an ambulance. The safety of our patients is our top priority.”
I contacted University Hospitals Leicester for comment.
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.