Mastering your profession

Abstract

British Journal of Midwifery • February 2013 • Vol 21, No 2 As you are all more than aware, the UK is undergoing another baby boom. In a report issued to Parliament last month, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) highlighted that although there has been a 7% rise in the number of full-time midwives in the UK, there are still too few (about 5000) in relation to the number of births (RCM, 2012). In 2011, there were 688 120 babies born to women in England, the highest number for 40 years (RCM, 2012), and in the UK, of the 808 000 births, 196 000 were to non-UK born women (Office for National Statistics, 2012). Each culture has its own beliefs and challenges and as Britain’s population diversifies, it is more important than ever to understand these differences to help provide high quality, individualised care to women and to promote the normality of birth. One of our remits in BJM, is to encourage the expansion of knowledge and we have always placed emphasis on the importance of continual professional development. Our portfolio of study days throughout the UK provide you with the opportunity to deepen your knowledge of female genital mutilation, stillbirths and complex needs while our study tours to China, run by our partner company Master Travel, give you a unique insight into midwifery practices in a challenging and rapidly expanding nation. The exploration of midwifery in different cultures provides the opportunity to discover a different philosophy of clinical practice, and allows you to broaden your professional and personal horizons. In countries such as China, where almost 50 000 babies are born each day, the rate of caesarean sections performed are well above the World Health Organization’s recommended 10–15% (Feng et al, 2012). Sufang et al (2007) found that the huge demand for the procedure across urban and rural areas of China was linked to the ‘one-child norm’ and women’s demand for the procedure. Furthermore, the cost of a caesarean section is higher than a vaginal birth, so many hospitals encourage the surgery to make more money. However, the Beijing Health Bureau has been promoting normal vaginal birth in order to lower the high caesarean section rate. Stricter supervision will be exerted and hospitals will be punished if they are found to perform unnecessary caesareans. The recent anouncement that 100 hospitals in the UK will share a £25 million fund to improve and upgrade their maternity units is indeed a welcome one and will go far to help promote normal birth in this country. However, would this money be better spent on employing more midwives to cope with the increasing population? I am afraid I am yet another statistic who has added to this baby boom. Set to go off on maternity leave at the end the week, I believe my antenatal care in the last 8 months has given me a great insight into the fantastic work midwives do from the perspective of a service user. My care has been second to none despite the stretched nature of maternity services and I fully intend to make the most of my midwife-led birth unit. BJM