peckham_mum

Dear All Do you want to make a change in society forever? Then do this. There will be a march/rally on Sunday 7th March 2010 in London to demand the Albany Model of Care for all women. This isn't just about women, its a very important societial change to see birthing as a natural process and not a disease or illness. Birth is an empowering and mind blowing point of change in a woman's life, but others want to take that very important point of change away from women. Midwives are a professional body, who are trained to ONLY deliver babies, they are skilled and talented and experienced to do this one job, and ONLY this job, but others want to take that away from them, well, we need to take it all back from those who should not have such control and power. This is soooo very important. If you are a woman who has had a wonderful birth, please come and march with us. If you are a woman who has had a bad birth experince, and want change, plase march with us. If you are a woman who has never had a baby, please march with us. We want all women to experience the Albany model of care, one to one care, continuity of care, 24 hour on call help, friendly, supportive, trustworthy, lovely, loyal, informative, friends, in your local area,help with breastfeeding. This is what the march wants for all women. We want the albany model of care to be rolled out everywhere. It will be a family day out hopefully, so bring a picnic and yourselves and your babies all wrapped up warmly. Bring banners. Bring flags, Bring brooms, bring fathers, partners, grannies, granddads, uncles, aunties, everyone who has had a baby....or who knows or has been in contact with a baby. Please come and join the fight! Please see the website for updates: http://www.savethealbany.org.uk/ALBANY/Welcome.html

I want to open up the debate further.... WHY are WE making such a fuss? Well,as you can see, all the commendations and praise for the Albany are abundant and trust me, its not just heresay, they are truely the model of care that we want for all women, believe me, its beautiful, caring, emotional, professional....one-to-one care, woman-centred-care, they talk to you like a person, not as if you are a moron, they believe in your capacity to give birth... there is an after care, they help you with breast feeding, they are there for any of your doubts and questions about everything concerning your birth and the baby afterwards. We are fighting for them, because this is how we want our care, we do not want doctors to come and visit us on the wards every now and again to look at a diagram of how you are progressing and a factory farmed way of delivering. Childbirth is messy, noisy, slow, painful but it is mightily empowering and amazing. Whilst in the care of the Albany, and after the birth of my son, I felt I could take on the world....and this is perhaps why there is such strong opposition and fight now, the women the Albany served gave us POWER to believe we can do it, and this is what we are doing now, we are fighting to preserve the ALBANY MODEL of CARE. All birthing mums should have access to the Albany Gold Standard Model of Care, because this is the best way to have a baby. This is a national, no...INTERNATIONAL debate, its not just about home births Vs Hospital births...its about CHOICE....and emotional support and care.Midwives want this model, women want this model...why can't we have it? The Business of Giving Birth....by Ricki Lake....a must see for everyone who cares about giving birth... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8h0SkPcs2U

Hallo, gald you bought this up...because I was the one that posted the other threads...and although they are about the Albany...its trying to open up the debate further, and not just talk about the Albany, but the great issue at hand...that is women should demand the Albany Model of Care and that in 1986, WEndy Savage went through the same thing and was totally cleared and is now a professor and has supported the ALbany Midwives legal battle with money.

Ditto. I'm sorry if I sounded like a crazy woman...in my previous posts. I'm just so very angry at the moment...I just want to defend the ALbany Midwives. Glad to hear you are supportive of the ALbany. Good luck with the birth. My son was also born in May, it was a perfect month, full of sunshine.

It might come as a shock to the general public and all those who have not been touched by the Albany Midwives, WHY are WE are making such a fuss? Well,as you can see, all the commendations and praise for the Albany is abundant and trust me, its not just heresay, they are truely the model of care that we want for all women, believe me, its beautiful, caring, emotional, professional....one-to-one care, woman-centred-care, they talk to you like a person, not as if you are a moron, they believe in your capacity to give birth... there is an after care, they help you with breast feeding, they are there for any of your doubts and questions about everything concerning your birth and the baby afterwards. We are fighting for them, because this is how we want our care, we do not want doctors to come and visit us on the wards every now and again to look at a diagram of how you are progressing and a factory farmed way of delivering. Childbirth is messy, noisy, slow, painful but it is mightily empowering and amazing. Whilst in the care of the Albany, and after the birth of my son, I felt I could take on the world....and this is perhaps why there is such strong opposition and fight now, the women the Albany served gave us POWER to believe we can do it, and this is what we are doing now, we are fighting to preserve the ALBANY MODEL of CARE. All birthing mums should have access to the Albany Gold Standard Model of Care, because this is the best way to have a baby. This is a national, no...INTERNATIONAL debate, its not just about home births Vs Hospital births...its about CHOICE....and emotional support and care.Midwives want this model, women want this model...why can't we have it? Things to think about: What kind of services do women want and who decides on the kind of care offered to us? Who disciplines Obstetricians? Incompetence; What does it mean? How does one measure it? Who has your baby? We need to challenge the powers that be, NOW is the time its time for a national debate about maternity policy. We want Women-centred care. We want continuity of care. 601,000 births, 30,000 midwives, 2,000 obstetricians 2004-5 Department of Health. just a few realities in numbers....

Leonie Penna, was until very recently singing the praises of the Albany Midwives and all of a sudden did a 360 degree turn, I wonder why....could it be this.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/mar/10/futureofthenhs.health As we all know the Albany Midwives have a philosophy of care, and were very open to all about that, about a woman's choice and about giving the woman the confidence to be able to muster all her strength to give birth: I guess some people did not like that and that is why they were attacked. If only their contract was just withdrawn last week, that would have been a dream...why is there so much news and publicity on this issue now???? Its because, but they were first bullied for a whole year, which I can't prove right here, right now, but it will be proved, then they were blamed for the deaths of two babies, which actually was not their fault and have subsequenly been cleared for. How many babies died in Kings College Hospital over 12 years, more then 2 I suspect. This case is very important, because if the Albany go, a trusted and immensely loved group in my community, just like that, then really, no one cares in the NHS, because this is so important, we are giving birth for Christ Sake!!!!! Kings College Hospital have no idea what a Pandora's Box they have opened....it cannot be closed now.....Women demand choice, we want the Albany model of care, and we want it now. And will get it.

"Your Power In The Court is directly proportional to your power outside the court." Brian Raymond's advice to Wendy Savage

Dear Sandy Rose, They can be bothered, thanks.

Dear Sandy Rose, Can you please stop posting the "They can't be that concerned about their work, then..." about the Albany midwives, I've noticed that you have posted this twice now. They can be bothered for your information, they are fighting for their lives and it does not help for this kind of negative support. All midwives have personal stories, and it might be that they are offered work with Kings, but do you know personally that they have taken up work? I refer everyone to Wendy Savage, a midwife who in 1986 was accused of negligence and who was totally exonerated 4 months later. Birth and Power by Wendy Savage, please read it.

I would like to put out some truth to the melle of general bullshit that might be stirring and midwife dunking that seems to be occuring...lets tell it as it is...As someone else has posted the Albany midwives need our support, they need funds to pay their lawyers so that they can sue the arse off Kings for slander, just as Wendy Savage did all those many years ago in 1986 and won. ( Please google her) This is all about POWER and DOMINANCE. Please lets not deny that it is anything else but that. ASSOCIATION FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MATERNITY SERVICES 5 Ann?s Court, Grove Road, Surbiton, Surrey, KT6 4BE Tel: 020 8390 9534 email: [email protected] www.aims.org.uk PRESS RELEASE Immediate Release - 7th December 2009 SAFETY OF DISADVANTAGED WOMEN AND BABIES IS THREATENED BY KING?S CLOSURE OF THE ALBANY MIDWIFERY PRACTICE King?s College Hospital has abruptly severed its contract with the Albany Midwifery Practice with no prior consultation with women ? and without proper provision in place to replace the service ? leaving expectant and new mothers in the lurch and anxious about receiving appropriate care. The Albany Midwifery Practice has been shown to offer the Gold Standard of care to around 200 women in Peckham each year. It provides an outstanding service which enables women to be cared for by a midwife they know. Women who use this service are enabled to make their own decisions about the place to birth. It is unacceptable to withdraw such a safe and much needed service from the poorest women in society. The Albany Midwives? care has provided women-centred care for women from deeply disadvantaged backgrounds for twelve years.Peckham ranks as the fourteenth most deprived district of 354 districts in England. The statistics speak for themselves: Albany Midwifery Practice Caesarean section rate 14.4% 24.1% King?s College Hospital 24.1% Albany-Breastfeeding rates 80% at 28 days 35% at 7 days Kings-35% at 7 days Albany-Perinatal Mortality 4.9 per 1000 (1997-2007) Kings-7.9 per 1000 (England and Wales 2006) 11.4 per 1000 (Southwark 2003-2005) The Practice ... The Practice offers women a chance to have care from a midwife they know and to have their full attention throughout labour. Between 40% and 50% of these women choose to have their babies at home. ?I feel blessed and truly privileged to have had the Albany midwives care for me during my pregnancy. They are an amazing group who go out of their way to treat their women (and our families) with the care and consideration we deserve during our pregnancies. I know for a fact that I wouldn?t have had the confidence to resist an instrumental delivery if I had not been so well informed and supported during my pregnancy and labour. I also know that I wouldn?t be the confident mother I am today if I had not met the Albany midwives. They have made a profound impact on my life and if I am blessed with a further pregnancy I wouldn?t hesitate in trusting them again with my care. ?(Serra) The Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services is concerned that these women may well find themselves in hospital where one-to-one care in labour is not offered. The Health Care Commission Report showed that over a third of women in King?s were left alone in labour or shortly after birth and were frightened. Already the UK maternal death statistics show that women in these disadvantaged groups are more than six times more likely to die in childbirth. All these deaths took place in hospital. In order to justify the suspension of the service King?s College Hospital appears to be trying to make the case that the service is unsafe. They have looked at a selected number of Albany cases admitted to their Special Care Baby Unit and asked the Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries ( CMACE) to investigate. We understand, however, that they have not examined the deaths of babies that have occurred in the King?s unit nor the babies from there who were also admitted to the Special Care Baby Unit. Nor do we have what AIMS believes is crucial data ? comparative rates of mental illness after childbirth, where we believe the Albany is likely to have far better results. This action mirrors the attempt, in 1985, by obstetricians at The London Hospital to strike off Wendy Savage, a consultant obstetrician, who provided the kind of care that women wanted and who also had a far lower caesarean section rate than her colleagues. ?The suspension of one of the Albany Midwives and cessation of their practice reminds me of my own suspension in 1985. The same intolerance to alternative ways of providing maternity care, despite comparable outcomes for the babies and lower Caesarean section rates, the same technique of selecting cases with adverse outcomes without looking at the overall care, and the same refusal to look at what the women themselves want. I hope that King?s will listen to those who consider this suspension an outrage and reinstate the midwife and the service immediately.? Wendy Savage MBBCh MSc HonDSc FRCOG King?s has claimed that it has suspended the service because it has the safety of the mothers and babies at heart. The Albany Midwifery Practice has long been acknowledged as a centre of excellence, yet King?s management is unwilling to provide this standard of care for more women, and instead is trying to remove it so that women have no choice but to accept medicalised care The reality is that King?s College Hospital?s action in withdrawing the Albany Contract has put women and babies at increased risk. AIMS demands that King?s College Hospital releases the CMACE Report and the comparable statistics for its own consultant unit so that data from both services can be examined objectively. Contact: Beverley Beech, Email: [email protected]