"Negligence is not really an issue for us"

This baby will die in minutes if not delivered - and it can't be delivered at home

Hewitt is determined that it shall be every pregnant woman’s right to have a home delivery. It is portrayed as a matter of “choice” but soon there may not be any choice. So many maternity units are being closed that there will be no alternative other than to have a home delivery.

A “right” to a home delivery is as safe and as sensible as giving parents the “right” to insist that their children have their tonsils out at home on the kitchen table. That is the natural way to do it. That is what doctors used to do a hundred years ago, so why not now?

The independent madwives are ecstatic.

There is not a single insurance company in the country that is prepared to cover independent madwives to do home deliveries. So what do the madwives do?

They work without insurance.

Private midwives have been working without indemnity insurance since 2002, when the last company willing to provide cover pulled out. Despite this, their numbers have grown from about 40 in 2002 to 200 at present, with up to 4,000 babies a year delivered privately. (The Times)

The madwives thus show the same disregard to safety as people who drive cars without insurance. Car drivers can go to jail for driving without insurance. Soon, the madwives may follow.

Independent madwives now tell mothers-to-be verbally and in writing at the first meeting that they are not covered for claims.

Annie Francis, spokeswoman for the Independent Midwives’ Association said:

“Most clients understand you can’t insure against things going wrong during childbirth, only against negligence, and negligence is not really an issue for us”

Let us consider the case of Beatrice Carla, styled by the newspapers as a “new age midwife” and see if Annie Francis’ statement that “negligence is not really an issue for us” can withstand close scrutiny.

Beatrice Carla, 56, is fighting to save her career after facing 27 charges, amounting to five counts of professional misconduct.

An expert panel heard claims that the independent midwife:

• HAMPERED paramedics' attempts to resuscitate the baby, so she could apply olive oil to its feet.
  
  
• STUCK her finger into the baby's mouth to apply a herbal remedy when a paramedic was giving resuscitation.
  
  
• BOTCHED attempts to use a lifesaving "bag and mask" device to resuscitate the baby.
  
  
• FAILED to perform basic resuscitation techniques when the baby stopped breathing.

Carla had been asked to assist a pool birth at the mother's home. But the labour started to go wrong when the umbilical cord became wrapped around the baby's neck.

Medics managed to save the baby's life but it suffered severe brain damage.

Carla - who was advised at the hearing by Chris Warren, treasurer of the Independent Midwives Association - told the hearing in Edinburgh she attempted to use a "bag and mask" device designed to resuscitate babies.

Carla faces further charges over

• the temperature of the water
  
  
• failure to react to a longer than average labour
  
  
• failure to document numerous clinical details which could have helped in the ongoing care of the baby.

Carla denied the allegations over the birth on the grounds that they could not be proven. She said: "Insufficient evidence has been given to prove that my practice fell below the base standard. There is no correlation between extensive record keeping and adequate care.”

Chris Warren said:

"We have grave concerns that some women may choose to birth alone if independent midwives are stopped from practising. We focus on the women and their views are respected. The NHS has a lot of rules and some women can't get the care they require. Even if the wishes of a mother impair the safety of a birth, we will accept that.”

The article concludes:

Many independent midwives and their clients follow an "alternative" lifestyle and the use of homeopathy and herbal medicine is common. A full care package, including ante-natal, birth and post-natal care can cost up to £2500

The full article can be found in the Sunday Mail

Hewitt is pushing women towards home-deliveries. She marches under the banner of "choice" but the real agenda is cost-cutting. Dr Crippen believes that any woman electing to have a home delivery is taking risks with her own life and with the life of her baby. The baby does not have a choice. The time will come that brain damaged children will take legal action not only against the madwife, but against their own mother.

Remember, when a madwife walks in at your door, science and common sense fly out of the window. As this desperately sad article shows, even the avoidable death of a baby does not sway those with entrenched views.