Truth about Albany Midwives

[Aloha]

Fuschia Wrote:

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> I attended a couple of antenatal groups at Albany,

> my experience of the women there was that they

> were very much a random selection of women from

> the locality.

My point was that if the Albany wants to fight this argument using the 'disadvantage' route in the media (to whom the Press Release at the top of this thread is most likely directed) - then use a broader selection of 'voices' representative of the community it says it serves. The media coverage to date has not done this; watch any of the clips - hardly a wide pick of the disadvantaged SE London community there is it? My concern is simply that the PR campaign (while needed - and yes I am a supporter!) is not doing itself justice.

[dmr]

I am so delighted for all of you that had wonderful experiences, whether is with the Albany, at King's or anywhere else.

Just because we want to Save the Albany and think they are doing a wonderful job doesn't mean that we (speaking for the Albany Mums group, which I shouldn't) don't think that there is a time and place for everything and sometimes going to hospital is the only option. We are fighting for choice. If you have been given a choice and explained all the options and you want to have your baby at hospital because that is what is right for you, then that is without a shadow of a doubt the way it should be! And if you are happy not to have continuity of care then that is just great.

I had my baby with the Albany but first and foremost I am a mother and I love my baby and my future babies to come. I don't support the Albany just because I received an amazing service from them (amazing by the way, doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about all they have done for me). I support the Albany because after doing research the allegations just don't make sense!.When the rumour started about the Albany being under threat a bunch of mums got together and started to investigate what truth could be in that. I was being selfish really, I wanted to know whether they would be a good option for the future. We attended meetings at King's, as mentioned in my previous posts, and what we heard was not convincing at all. We have asked Tim Smart, King's CEO and Kate Yiannouzis, Head of Midwifery, for a meeting as to explain more about the report that had been commisioned (that was before the report was finished). I think we had the right since this decision will affect us and the community. We also mentioned to them that based on the MCSL meeting that we attended and the information we received from Leoni Penna that we were concerned the report was bias (then we were proved right when the report itself said "The study methodology employed does not lend itself to a meaningful statistical analysis". We contacted Tim again once the decision of closing the Albany had been made and the report had been received by all the parties involved asking again for that meeting, we also asked for the MCSL meeting minutes and to see the report...we are still waiting!

As I understand it King's also put a stop to various articles that were supposed to appear on national newspapers saying that they were bias as King's hadn't had the chance to give their side of the story...well King's...we are waiting! Surely should not be too difficult, if a bunch of mums can organise Press Releases to fight for what they believe in, surely the Press Office at King's should be able to put one together pretty swifly...3 days have gone by...so far nothing.

We are also DESPERATELY trying to get in touch with other communities, apart from the middle class one mentioned above, hanging posters everywhere and anywhere, but as mumof3girlies mentioned it seem to be left to the middle classes (though it makes me laugh to think about myself as middle class, I live in Peckham after all!) to fight for all of us. Everyone is welcome though and if you have any ideas as to how to get these women involved please do let us know. The Albany has got a Database with all these women contacts but naturally they can't and they haven't shared it with us...even though they are under threat they still have got principles!

[Aloha]

dmr Wrote:

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>

> We are also DESPERATELY trying to get in touch

> with other communities, apart from the middle

> class one mentioned above, hanging posters

> everywhere and anywhere, but as mumof3girlies

> mentioned it seem to be left to the middle classes

> (though it makes me laugh to think about myself as

> middle class, I live in Peckham after all!) to

> fight for all of us. Everyone is welcome though

> and if you have any ideas as to how to get these

> women involved please do let us know. The Albany

> has got a Database with all these women contacts

> but naturally they can't and they haven't shared

> it with us...even though they are under threat

> they still have got principles!

Speaking as someone working in PR, I would simply advise not to fight the fight using the main emphasis on providing a service for the 'disadvantaged' if it's proving really tricky to present case studies / mothers from this demographic to the media. The Albany has so many other fantastic advantages with which to promote itself and put its case forward effectively; namely all the positives that have been listed above. Simply a case of changing the headline / emphasis of the press release to something less likely for the media to poke holes in.

[dmr]

Thanks Aloha,

will mention that to the group!

[Family Room Moderator]

All

Can we please keep to one discussion on one thread on each topic. I have assumed that this is the main thread (as it has the most and the most frequent posts) on the Albany midwives, and have asked the Administrator to lock:

Anyone else booked with the Albany?

We want the Albany model of care. We want it now.

Albany midwives campaign on bbc london news

Birth and power by Wendy Savage

The locked threads will still be available for reading, but the conversation will continue on one thread only.

Thanks and regards

FRM

[sandy_rose]

Just want to say sorry if I've confused or offended anyone with my badly formulated post on the Albany midwives having been offered other work with King's. I just want to make it clear I'm actively and fully supporting their work. As I was booked with them myself (due to give birth in May) I'd say I'm as upset about what's happened as anyone else.

[peckham_mum]

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.

[buggie]

power_parent Wrote:

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> Carrot Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > One low risk baby who ends up in the intensive

> > care unit with serious medical consequences

> which

> > were preventable is one to many, multiple is

> > criminal. Far too little too late.

>

>

> That's right, Carrot. I agree, they should shut

> down King's!

> A perinatal mortality rate of 7.9 per 1000 at

> King?s, compared to 4.9 per 1000 at the Albany?

> King's is ridding itself of the superior

> competition and the direct comparison, because

> they are not meeting their improvement targets.

errmmm Powerparent you're skewing the figures as much as you feel Kings are.... the Kings mortality rate will include all of the high risk pregnancies (many ref to them from other areas) that they take responsibility for (eg babies who have already needed surgery pre-natally) . Am sure the Albany workload consisted of lower risk deliveries and so should maybe look at comparing to the other midwifery teams who offer similar service.

A like for like comparison is surely what is required to give a true picture of what has been occuring/to defend.

[Keef]

Carrot Wrote:

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> One low risk baby who ends up in the intensive care unit with serious medical consequences which were preventable is one to many, multiple is criminal. Far too little too late.

That's right, Carrot. I agree, they should shut down King's!

A perinatal mortality rate of 7.9 per 1000 at King?s, compared to 4.9 per 1000 at the Albany? King's is ridding itself of the superior competition and the direct comparison, because they are not meeting their improvement targets.

Genius, absolute genius!!!!

This thread is awesome, I share the world with some really, really special people!

[dmr]

Just to clarify that The Albany worked with an "all risk" caseload.

The figures quoted by Powerparent are statistics that have been around for a couple of years and have been quoted in several journals and articles. King's never questioned those figures which leads me to believe that they agreed with them. Furthermore The Albany had been subcontracted by King's for 12 years...why! they didn't realise what they were doing up until now???. Whatever the reason for King's getting rid of the Albany have nothing to do with their performance (unless they are being punished for being so good and getting better results, with their "alternative" ways, than the hospital they are subcontracted by). The reason given by King's to the midwives for terminating the contract so abruptly is no longer refering to the report (I find this very interesting!)

I know I said it before but feel I need to say it again. Regarding the baby that instigated this report by King's the Albany has been cleared of all wrong doings.

Buggie, you have all the right to question what we are all saying and I invite you to do your own research and come to one of our meetings to share it. I am as keen as you are to get to the bottom of this. As a mum I really would love to know where is the safest place to birth my next child!

Keef, you DO share the world with very special people. I am delighted you are in this world too. :)

[Keef]

Thanks, I feel all warm inside now.

[jollybaby]

.

[buggie]

dmr Wrote:

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> Just to clarify that The Albany worked with an

> "all risk" caseload.

And what is the definition of "all risk" - that could mean many different things.

The Albany team dealt with a local caseload, meanwhile, Kings deals with tertiary referrals (from across the whole of the south-east and sometimes further afield) to handle the births of babies identified ante-natally with problems such as Gastroschisis and Diaphragmatic hernia's both of which are incredibly risky and so lead to the higher than expected mortality rate (don't forget that perinatal mortality is from 22/40 to the baby being 1 wk old) and would not be in the sole care of a midwifery team for delivery.

I am not trying to take sides or discredit - but you need to make your argument as fair and equal as you wish it to be from Kings as well.

It is interesting to see how many of the posters on here seem to have registered especially to talk about this... either lots of lurkers have had a nerve touched, or there's some signposts pointing to here.

[dmr]

maybe not everyone feels the need to have a say about everything and anything.

[franky12]

Buggie I think what dmr meant when referring to an 'all risk' caseload was that ALL women from the GP surgery that the Albany women go to are cared for by the Albany - regardless of their associated 'risk' in pregnancy. They follow a midwifery model rather than a medical model offering informed choice and continuity - with obstetric input if/when necessary. The Albany's caseload is not just made up of what the medical model would deem 'low risk' groups.

[peckham_mum]

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

[Ann]

The following statement can be viewed on Kings web site.

Albany Midwifery Practice

King's College Hospital puts patient safety before all other considerations. For this reason we have terminated our contract with the Albany Midwives practice.

We have become concerned about the safety record of the practice in comparison with the Trust's overall maternity safety record. Our records show that whilst Albany delivered babies for 4% of all King's births, those births accounted for 42% of our full term babies born with Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy, a condition whereby brain damage may be caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain, at or around the tome of delivery. The Trust formed the view based on this evidence that babies delivered by an Albany midwife were at higher risk serious Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy ( HIE). Albany are responsible for some 200 births out of an annual total of around 5,500 babies born at King's.

Albany are working with us to ensure that the women booked with them are being looked after. We also hope that individual Albany midwives will join the Trust as employees. The Trust runs nine other midwife-led community practices, who offer choice to the women of SE London. At 9%, King's has one of the best records of home births in the country.

I just thought some of you would like to know a bit more detail as to why Kings felt they should make the controversial decision to suspend the contract.

[R&A]

Does anyone understand this fully?

How many babies in total get HIE at Kings?

If I understand the stats properly - nearly half (42%) of all the HIE cases occurred in just 4% of births

If there were say 2 cases of HIE and one case was an albany case, then the stat doesn't really mean much

However if there were say 42 cases out of 100 cases in total - it looks significant...

So the % stats cant' be interpreted without the total figures.. or maybe i'm being stupid

Do they give reasons as top the cause of this?

Is this a risk of having a birth at home? or is it attributed to Albany themselves?

Could they be being unfairly penalised because they do a much higher rate of home births where there aren't the A&E facilities available that you get at hospital?

[sillywoman]

The HOM at Kings gave the NCT some stats this week.

They are that from 31/3/06 - 31/10/08 Kings delivered 13, 629 babies. Of these there were 15 cases of HIE, 9 babies died.

In the same time frame (and I'm really sorry, but I can't recall/ didn't note whether the following stats were integrated with Kings or stand alone) Albany delivered 556 babies. There ere 11 cases of HIE, 2 babies died.

From these figures they extrapolated that The Albany group delivered 4% of Kings total babies in that time, but accounted for 42% of babies born with poor outcomes.

HTH

[Keef]

I don't get it, they say;

The Trust formed the view based on this evidence that babies delivered by an Albany midwife were at higher risk serious Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy ( HIE).

Then go on to say;

We also hope that individual Albany midwives will join the Trust as employees.

Which strikes me as a tad contradictory. Either the midwives are to blame, or they are not.

Don't get me wrong, I am sure the midwives are not to blame, which suggests that this is just a convenient excuse.

[bignumber5]

a slight misunderstanding, keef: the individual midwives are not to blame, the service is. A confusingly close distinction, but an important one. Should these (no doubt) fully qualified and highly skilled midwives go and work for King's, under their supervision, instruction, practicing according to King's policies and with the educational support of an internationlly reknowned teaching hospital, they could join the happier statistic group quite easily, I'm sure.

I'm sure that many have had great experiences with Albany and it's service, but the statistics above represent an unacceptably high complication rate.

[Keef]

I get that BN5, my point really is that the statement could have been worded differently.

[dmr]

The thing that bugs me the most is how on earth they have got this statistics worked out when the obstetritian itself said that historically they have not been keeping records, and...isn't this why they paid, what I believe ?80K, for this report for which they provided the data? And as far as I am aware the report itself is inconclusive!

Kings keeps repeating the same blurb, quoting numbers without actually backing them up. The one statistical analysis that they commisioned came back with inconclusive results even after they hand picked the cases to be studied. This is hardly grounds to make such an important decision and to besmirch the names of a internationally respected midwifery practice.

To be honest, whichever the case, King's is to blame. If the Albany are proved innocent (they have been cleared of all wrong doings about the Polish baby and the report is inconclusive, the two being the backbone of their decision or so they claimed originally) then Kings needs to publicly apologize and reinstate them. And if the Albany are guilty I just can't believe that King's kept renovating their contract for 12 years!!!! putting all our babies at risk. That is beyond negligence!

bignumber5, I suggested to Leoni Penna to educate the midwives and supervise them instead of closing them down, as this seemed a less dramatic action. She said that hopefully what this report will demostrate is that they are doing so many things wrong that re-educating is not an option. Furthermore the polish baby was delivered at hospital, either they are to blame or they are not. Either they are good midwives or they are not.

[Keef]

This si the problem, people are just on one "side" or another, and trying to throw blame around rather than solve an issue.

[dmr]

Keef you are right. Unfortunately this is human nature I am afraid. There is contradictory information and therefore people chooses what they believe in. I really would love to know the truth and I am sure so it will every one else, independently of the side they are taking at moment. Don't forget most of us are women and just want a caring and safe place where to give birth.

I am curious though, how do you propose to solve the issue?