13/05/2024
I’m feeling for all the pregnant women at the moment who will have heard about the Birth Trauma Inquiry this morning. Also for those that have experienced birth trauma and this brings back unwelcome memories.
https://www.theo-clarke.org.uk/birth-trauma
I’ve been shouting at the radio while Conservative MP Maria Calfield was speaking about how much the government have done to improve things.
Why talk about how they’re putting money into training midwives when it’s not a training issue but a retention issue?
Why did she keep going on about trauma from tears like that’s the only reason for birth trauma?!?!?!? (I’m not diminishing how tears can be traumatic but she had just listened to testimonies for all kinds of reason for birth trauma.)
For those who are currently pregnant the best advice I can give you is get informed!
Read widely, excellent people like Rachel Reed https://midwifethinking.com/, Sara Wickham https://www.sarawickham.com, small https://birthsmalltalk.com.
If we do lots of research about where to rent/ buy a house of what car to buy, we should be doing 10x the amount around birth and the maternity system.
Be prepared to advocate for yourself. If birth partners aren’t confident being an advocate, go on a self-confidence course. I’m not joking!
Check out my short video about how intended birth location affects outcomes
https://youtu.be/dWTaUx0a3Dk?si=iv1a6mAeKFA2yvod
And go to a pregnancy yoga class to help manage
anxious feelings.
Wishing you all the best.
Please note that due to the overwhelming volume of submissions from the public to our national inquiry, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Birth Trauma will now report back our findings to the UK Government in May, not April, to allow extra time for all submissions to be read.
