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

[peckham_mum]

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....