This is where we will be discussing issues dealing with women and children.
The first topic to be discussed is the shortage of Midwives we have in the UK and around the world.First we have a report from the UK :
Staff shortage shuts Bishop Auckland maternity unit
The maternity unit deals with 350 births a yearA hospital maternity unit in County Durham is to temporarily shut because of a shortage of midwives.
The unit at Bishop Auckland General Hospital will close for two months from July while more staff are taken on.
County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said the shortage meant it could not guarantee the safety of patients.
The unit, which caters for about 350 women a year, will shut from 2 July until 5 September.
Director of Nursing Laura Robson said: “The unit operates with a small group of staff. Some have left and although we are recruiting replacements, these will not be in post until the beginning of September.
“This means that, between 2 July and 5 September we do not have enough midwives to cover all rotas safely. This also means we cannot guarantee safe care 24 hours a day for women using the unit.
“We have taken steps including moving midwives from Durham and Darlington, but given that high risk deliveries take place there we need to keep staffing levels safe there too.
“The trust is contacting the women who are booked to have their babies in the unit to discuss alternative birth plans.”
From BBC News
There is a Midwife shortage in the world
A UN report http://www.unfpa.org/sowmy/report/home.html has said that a chronic shortage of midwives will jeopardise progress on child mortality.
Each year, 358,000 women die while pregnant or giving birth, around 2 million newborns die within the first 24 hours of life, and there are 2.6 million stillbirths, because of inadequate or insufficient healthcare. Unless an additional 112,000 midwives are trained, deployed and retained, 38 of 58 countries surveyed might not meet their target to achieve 95% coverage of births by skilled attendants by 2015, as required by millennium development goal 5, on maternal health. Globally, 350,000 more midwives are needed, the report said.
“The report points to an urgent need to train more health workers with midwifery skills and ensure equitable access to their life-saving services in communities to improve the health of women and children,” said Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which released the report.
Increasing women’s access to quality midwifery has become a focus of global efforts to give women the best possible healthcare during pregnancy and childbirth. It is also at the heart of three health-related millennium development goals – cuting child deaths, improving maternal health and combating disease.
Taken from Guardian
We have a shortage of Midwives in the UK and around the world .This needs to be addressed and the priorities should be the welfare of mothers and their babies.
