http://www.maternalmatters.co.uk/

Maternal Matters, Prestwich (2025)

30/08/2025

💫Competition time💫

💫I have 3 of these bundles to give away

💫A thank you to all my followers 🙌

💫 easy absorption and digestion, proven to be beneficial in third trimester and postpartum. Worth £15
💫Maternal matters pregnancy & birth affirmation cards in branded tin worth £15
💫Home made postpartum sitz bath worth £5
💫Free postage to anywhere in the uk

⚡️To enter follow me, like this post and tag as many friends that you think would like this bundle
⚡️3 lucky Winners announced 20.09.25

Good luck 🍀 🩷Abigail ✨

26/08/2025

💙Shortage of midwives💙

💙NHS
💙Affects everyone having babies
💙Impacts everyone working in the system
💙We all deserve better!
💙I feel another march coming on but what can we do differently? I’d love to do a call the midwife march, any excuse to put that uniform on!

Thank goodness we have incredible midwives like that care about us, and still have the energy to fight for change!

Sheena wrote ⬇️

Flashback to 2012 when the wonderful . joined 18 passionate student midwives in Oxford — all dressed in vintage 1950s midwives uniforms and on bikes — to raise awareness of the Royal College of Midwives’ e-petition calling for 5,000 more midwives. This fabulous photo was shared widely and I’m posting again because I have something to say.

I am weary of hearing midwives in the UK being publicly demonised, scapegoated and blamed for the challenges in maternity care. For ‘pushing’ normal, physiological birth. Goodness, if we are doing that it’s certainly not working. Student midwives are struggling to even witness this type of birth - as they struggle to ‘achieve’ their required 40 vaginal births in 4 years! They tell me they feel most like obstetric nurses, nurses definitely - and that’s not what they came in to the profession for.

I want to shout out to all future midwives and say - stick with it, change will come. Induction of labour rates were high in the 1970s when I was a student - and then it shifted due to pressure. And I and we , with the recently formed Collective, will continue to support you, and lobby for meaningful improvements.

Student midwives, you matter. We need you, just as the human race does ❤️

Thank you to you all, your lecturers, mentors, families and everyone in your tag team. You are making a difference 🙌🏽

💙Tell me your ideas what we could do next? ⬇️⬇️⬇️

23/08/2025

💛Take your time💛

⚡️IF you are choosing hospital or Birth center birth ⚡️

💛”When should I call 📞 the midwife” Me:…..”See how you feel, no magic length of time, or how dialated you are ? but 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻STAY AT HOME as long as possible ⬇️WHY

💛You will give your body and baby time to progress in your own environment without being over looked!
💛Protect you from unnecessary interventions
💛Protect you from unnecessary vaginal examinations
💛Protect you from the NHS ticking clock ⏰
💛Going in early does not guarantee access to the pool
💛Going in too early puts you at great disadvantages.

💛Did you stay at home as long as possible? Tell me….

⬇️⬇️⬇️

17/08/2025

✨ New Parent PSA ✨

Something nobody warned me about after having a baby: the endless stream of “advice” you never asked for.

✨I also see it often during my postnatal visits when visitors are present, I sometimes have to gently correct them. For example ⬇️⬇️⬇️

“Don’t hold them too much.”
“Are you sure you should be feeding like that?”
“Back in my day, we did it this way…”

✨I know most of it comes from love, but when you’re running on two hours of sleep and trying to figure out your own rhythm, the last thing you need is a lecture.

✨Here’s the truth ➡️ every baby is different. Every parent is different. And the only people who get a say in how this little human is raised are the ones actually doing the raising.

✨I love to give reassurance to parents during postnatal visits, tell them they are doing great, it’s normal, it will get easier and they know when to ask for help, you can ask your people for advice if you need it, but we all parent differently.

✨So if you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the noise, you’re not alone. Trust your gut. You know your baby better than anyone. 💛

✨What unwanted comments did you receive let’s share ⬇️⬇️⬇️ tell me….

💛Abigail

12/08/2025

💙NHS one year💙

💙I’ve been back in the NHS for one year now
💙After a week off I’ve had time to relax & reflect

SWIPE ➡️➡️➡️ for my favorite things in my trust

💙IMO all these things =happier midwives and GOOD retention 🙌

I admit I can be guilty of feeling resentful, and angry about the political side of NHS midwifery, I can find myself getting absorbed in the wider issues and feeling empathetic towards midwives that are stuck in toxic cultures, I wish I could change things.
However I do believe there is a shift occurring, midwives are becoming more vocal, families and women are realizing the failures and taking more accountability for their own pregnancies realizing we cannot provide what they deserve, understanding they can find alternatives to complement NHS care, cherry pick parts or replace it completely.

💙Drop me a heart and tell me the things you are grateful for ✨💫🙏in your trust as staff or a service user.

💫Abigail -NHS community midwife

10/08/2025

⭐️Top tips⭐️

SWIPE ➡️➡️➡️

⭐️Self educate early don’t wait until third trimester
⭐️Don’t rely on your NHS midwife
⭐️Some NHS midwives have only 15 mins to complete an antenatal check up, that leaves no time for questions or information sharing!
⭐️Understand what’s going on in maternity services so you can be prepared
⭐️Taking responsibility of your own health and pregnancy gives you power.
⭐️Investing in your own education gives you an advantage.
⭐️My recommendations & faves on IG ⬇️⬇️⬇️

⚡️Just a few of my faves listen to podcasts, read books & articles, change your own narrative and question everything ⚡️

⚡️Who would you recommend? ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Tag your faves!

31/07/2025

⚡️WHISTLE blowing⚡️

⚡️About NHS MATERNITY ✨

⚡️It’s happening now across the uk social media 🇬🇧 perhaps a revolution 🙌
⚡️For years I have spoken out on behalf of my colleagues, midwifery sisters and students!
⚡️My inbox is always open and I’ve heard so many stories some extremely distressing 😢
⚡️It’s heavy, stories of incredible midwives resigning from NMC completely, poor mental health, long term sicknesses, suicidal thoughts, and detrimental effects to personal relationships & families.
⚡️This has to stop, many other midwives including me have tried to speak up with concerns by going through official channels like speak out but believe me you are quickly reassured it’s all in hand…
⚡️The concerns are systemic & well known well documented in every maternity scandal! but where are the midwives STORIES?
⚡️Midwives are silenced, proved that, but now it seems a growing number of midwives are bravely coming forward with truths, who will be next?
⚡️Most importantly these toxic maternity units affect the families we should be caring for, their experiences matter, their experiences last a lifetime!
⚡️I SUPPORT WHISTLEBLOWERS do you? Let’s keep this conversation going.

Like, tag & share….

Tell me ⬇️⬇️⬇️ ✨Abigail

27/07/2025

🧠💬 Let’s talk about toxicity in NHS midwifery.

☄️Behind the smiles and scrubs, too many midwives are working in environments where bullying, burnout, and blame culture are the norm—not the exception.🧯🚒every shift feels like firefighting.

🙌Today I have spent the morning listening to ⬇️

🚨I feel this is a national emergency and it’s time to TALK truths! Besides isn’t that one of our NMC code of conducts? Oooooops there was scandals within our governing body too 🫣
Plus RCM are a multi million pound union, but do they really have our backs? 🤔

⚡️I urge you to listen too more to be exposed….MEAN midwives BEWARE, how can you even call yourself a midwife when you bully and harass your colleagues, I believe these whilstle blowing midwives will inspire others to do the same…..

✨ Midwives deserve safe, supportive workplaces—free from fear and judgment.
💔 The current system is pushing passionate professionals to the edge, most importantly its mothers and babies who suffer, too resulting in HARM or worse
🤯It’s said the good ones leave and bad ones rise to the top….however now truths are being exposed! The timing couldn’t be better with the national maternity review and accounts like raising issues in parliament.

☄️It’s time to call it what it is and demand real change.
Compassion can’t thrive in toxicity. We deserve better.

LETS TALK ABOUT THIS, TELL ME YOUR Thoughts 💭
⬇️⬇️⬇️

14/07/2025

🤍Birth trauma awareness week🤍

🤍Why we need to do better

🤍As a community midwife in Greater Manchester, I visit family’s from 4 different hospitals in our region, I see birth trauma every week.
🤍Birth trauma feels and looks different to everyone
🤍Birth trauma can be physical, psychological or emotional, talking about it when you are ready can help
🤍It’s not just about what happened — it’s how it felt.
🤍Feeling unheard, scared, or out of control can leave lasting scars.
🤍Trauma can affect birthing parents and partners.
🤍It’s valid, it matters — and you’re not alone.
🤍A complex subject for an instagram post, I hope we can continue to raise awareness and reduce birth trauma.
Abigail ✨

Sharing my favorite IG people that share their stories and offer understanding and support to others. Some even offer holistic birth debriefing.

⭐️

org.au

⭐️Tag your people that support birth trauma 🙏⚡️💫✨

🫶 Healing is possible. REACH out Support is out there.

11/07/2025

🖤Myro’s oasis prints 🖤

🖤

🖤I’m absolutely thrilled with these prints
🖤Only £25 A4 £30 A3
🖤Two options I couldn’t decide so bought both!
🖤Perfect gift for an oasis fan!

Link 🔗 in bio 🙌

🖤Supporting our local artists and indie small businesses!
🖤Feeling blessed to live in such an awesome village next to heaton park
🖤Enjoy the gig everyone stay safe and hydrated!

Abigail 💫

18/02/2025

Posted • ⚡️Knowledge =Power⚡️

Swipe ➡️➡️➡️ for more info!

⚡️Education can provide you with confidence
⚡️Shift the power….
⚡️What type of birth do you desire? Do your research explore ALL the options even ones that may feel uncomfortable to you.
⚡️Sometimes it’s not even money it’s TIME that you need to invest in YOUR pregnancy & birth.
⚡️People are so busy these days they leave antenatal / pregnancy birth prep till the last minute! Or miss it out….”I’ll go with the flow” “birth plans don’t go to plan anyway”
⚡️What’s offered generally in the NHS is basic….
⚡️As an NHS midwife I always encourage you to start exploring during early pregnancy all the way through, earlier the better, self educate and increase your confidence, understand your birth rights & choices, one course…might not be enough….top that up with yoga, Pilates, books, podcasts, IG accounts so many amazing ones on here….here’s a few of my favorite accounts
⬇️⬇️⬇️

pregnancy.chiropractor

What are your favorite educational accounts? Tag them …..⬇️

Abigail ###💫

12/02/2025

🤍Midwives & Student mws 🤍

✨Surround yourself with those that lift you up✨

🤍Midwifery IMO is questionably the toughest it’s ever been? only other midwives will understand
🤍Its a continuous roller coaster
🤍We hold a privileged position whilst sometimes walking a tightrope with 🦈sharks lurking
🤍The mother midwife relationship & midwives dilemmas can be heartbreaking 💔
🤍Moral injury is real
🤍Compassion fatigue is rife
🤍The accountability can be overwhelming
🤍The scrutiny can be crushing
🤍There will always be bitching, bullying, gaslighting, blaming, shaming & hierarchy
🤍Some women cannot truly support other women

But I believe ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
🤍There will also be moments of light, love and support that move you to your core & stay with you forever ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
🤍Stay true and authentic
🤍Find your tribe and keep them close ✨💫⚡️
🤍You’ve got this!

🤍Tag your midwifery brothers & sisters ✨💫⚡️⬇️⬇️⬇️

Maternal Matters

30/08/2025

26/08/2025

23/08/2025

17/08/2025

12/08/2025

10/08/2025

31/07/2025

27/07/2025

14/07/2025

11/07/2025

18/02/2025

12/02/2025

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