midwife's muse

Amy is now a year old and last Sunday we had the celebrations. Following tradition the venue was our house, I am still giving thanks for the rain holding off so that it could be held in the garden. To be on the safe side we had three large gazebos, we could have done with patio heaters, but people seemed to enjoy it, we had to evict the last revellers at 10pm, poor old souls that we are.

Tuesday saw the emergency community midwives meeting. Things are bad. Just our little section has to make £50,000 savings this year, the main thrust appears to be by reducing the number of visits we make following the birth, setting up 'drop in' clinics so that women with problems can come and see us. I can picture it now, 4 days after having a caesarian section, a woman with breastfeeding problems, possibly with twins, or a toddler in tow, gets into the car and comes to see us.....somewhere (venues to be decided), you don't need a crystal ball to predict that this strategy is not going to be entirely successful. Whilst this reduction in the community service is being planned we are advised by the government that more women should be having home births. HELP. Please, will someone wake me from this nightmare that my job has become. I want to just switch the whole insane situation off and rewind to a time when politicians kept out of things that they do not understand. Advisers are no f*****g use, they are not there, on the ground, attempting to deliver (tee hee) the services, how can they possibly hope to understand the REAL requirements. So now we are encouraged to increase the homebirth rate. No more equipment, we have to fundraise to provide us with the resuscitation equipment that we have to have at a homebirth! Feeling safe, you really shouldn't be. Case in point this week. I'm first on-call, homebirths and obstetric EMERGENCIES, I have no equipment though because it is already in use at a homebirth, luckily I wasn't needed, you have have known if I was though as the failure of the service would have been plastered all over the news. For too long workers in the Health Service have papered over the cracks, I'm getting to the point where I can't do it any longer. Perhaps it's our fault that the government seem to be impervious to the serious state of affairs, we have done too good a job at 'making do', they really can't see that the whole system is on the verge of imploding. Whatever the government may say about there being more midwives, we don't see them, they must be invisible. Anyway, back to the meeting, three managers are also going, will midwives take their place, will the funding be used for equipment? No. The monies will be used paying back the overspend and fine from last year. I wish I could really communicate the absolute frustration and despair I feel at this time, if only I could just turn by back on the whole suppurating sore, I can't though so I will just have to carry on bailing the water out of the sinking ship that has imprisoned me.

20.5.06 13:06