019 Midwifery Care for Women is Changing (and not for the better!)

This episode is a MUST LISTEN for anyone in the UK. The face of birth is changing - midwives are currently regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (an oxymoron in itself!), who are proving themselves to be unfit for purpose.  Rather than being responsible for assisting the wants of the women they are providing care for - which has always been the duty of a midwife - under the new regulations, midwives are instead going to have their practice ruled by what their employer (the NHS trust or the private company who they work for) wants them to do. Why does this matter? Well, if you want to give birth outside of the "norm" for that employer then you may be told you're not allowed.  For years, I've seen memes that pronounce "You're not allowed to tell me I'm not allowed" and "My body, my baby, my birth".  Under the current changes, this has the potential to all change. Listen to Katherine explain the situation much better than I can! It really is an eye opening episode.