NCT's Big Weekend 2010 One Voice - NCT and midwives working in partnership Presented by Gill Peaks, Midwifery Matron Community (Medway Foundation NHS Trust)

1. One Voice NCT & Midwifery Engagement Presentation by Gill Perks Midwifery Matron Community Medway Foundation NHS Trust May 16 th 2010

3. The voice of midwives “ The NCT give women this rosy view of labour and birth and when it all goes pear shaped the women are devastated, it really brings them down and we have to pick up the pieces”

4. The voice of midwives “ We don’t like all the intervention any more than they do but we have to be realistic about the service they are going to encounter, unless they stay out of hospital they will be in an obstetric culture. So why is it that so many NCT women choose a hospital birth? Is it something about the type of woman the NCT attracts, and if so what are they doing to address that?”

5. The voice of midwives “ Sometimes when you see this five page long birth plan your heart sinks. How can we work with this? No epidural, no forceps etc etc. It feels like the NCT have set the women up ready to battle with us” “ I sat in on some NCT classes and I didn’t feel that the information they were given was realistic enough and was insubstantial. Like breastfeeding, OK, it’s normal and natural but it might be hard. I think they let themselves down”

6. The voice of NCT specialist workers “ It’s just presumed that women will have things done to them without any explanation or discussion, like what happens with the third stage for example” “ There always seems to be this tendency to rush things along and not let nature take it’s course, women being told they are only allowed a certain length of time before intervention kicks in”

7. The voice of NCT specialist workers “ When this couple described what they were hoping for, like soft lighting, massage and a waterbirth, the midwife just laughed and said you’ll be lucky” “ One of the women in my class was told in her NHS class that it would only be a matter of time before she was begging for an epidural!”

8. The voice of mothers “ The NCT offered an attractive alternative, birth wasn’t just a matter of having a baby, it was about remaining in control, so I made a birth plan. It’s part of our culture to want choice and be in control, but I now realise with birth it’s probably impossible. I’m mourning the birth experience I’d wanted so much but was unable to have”

9. The voice of mothers “ I had done some (I admit unexpectedly) really good NHS classes and everyone said you must do NCT. Frankly I was very disappointed; I thought the information in comparison was wishy washy, she couldn’t really answer our questions, I went away feeling less confident than I had before and felt I’d wasted my money”

10. …… and fathers “ At the first class she asked the Dads to talk about their fears, at that point mine was having to discuss my fears with complete strangers. I just wanted the facts about labour and birth. I admit I was disappointed” “ She stopped going to her NCT classes because she disliked all the false promises about perfect births. She chose not to make any kind of plan. As a result when things went wrong she didn’t feel any disappointment, but no thanks to the NCT”

12. “ The whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts” Aristotle

14. I will prepare you for birth, including the birth you might not choose. Trust birth – interference is risky

15. Let’s talk… Thank you. That sounds good, but I have asthma so I’ll need to see a doctor during my pregnancy as well. All pregnant women need a midwife, but some need a doctor too. Your midwife will refer you, and share your antenatal care with them.