With her first baby due in a few weeks, Gemma Ricketts had made careful plans for a home birth, helped by a midwife she had come to know and trust during her pregnancy. A private maternity service called Neighbourhood Midwives, funded by the NHS, had offered her and many others exactly the kind of attention that was last month trumpeted by Matt Hancock, the health secretary, as he set out plans to make Britain “the best place in the world to give birth” – personalised, continuous care by a named midwife and greater choice for the expectant mother when planning her delivery.
So when she received an email out of the blue telling her that Neighbourhood Midwives, which operated in Walthamstow, north-east London, was closing down with eight days’ notice, Ricketts was shocked and distressed. The 33-year-old is one of scores of heavily pregnant women who have been left in the lurch. Many have been advised to sort out alternative care themselves, and little information has been offered about why the scheme has ended so abruptly. Nine midwives have lost their jobs.
Continue reading...from Pregnancy | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2UyyvOH
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق