NHS posts job adverts for midwives committed to 'normal birth'

Fury as NHS trusts are STILL posting job adverts for midwives committed to ‘normal’ births – just a week after damning probe warned obsession with natural births contributed to Britain’s biggest ever maternity scandal

• Hospitals in Northumbria and Kent posted adverts for ‘normal birth’ midwives 
• Ockenden report revealed mothers made to have natural births in Shrewsbury 
• It found around 200 babies and 9 mothers could have survived with C-sections

NHS trusts have come under fire for posting job adverts for midwives committed to ‘normal birth’ just a week after Britain’s biggest ever maternity death scandal. 

One advert posted by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said it was ‘seeking a highly motivated, experienced dynamic midwife to join our team who is committed to the philosophy of normal birth’.

The advert — which has since been taken down — said the staff member will work as part of midwifery unit teams that ‘are staffed by passionate, normality-focused midwives’.

A second advert from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust seeks a midwife for a midwife-led unit who is interested in the ‘promotion of normality’.

It adds: ‘Normality is promoted in all clinical areas, and we have an above average rate of out of hospital deliveries.’

The adverts, dated April 4, drew condemnation on Twitter after being shared on Thursday by patient safety campaigner James Titcombe.

It came after a damning report showed mothers were made to have natural births despite the fact they should have been offered a Caesarean at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. 

The review found around 200 babies and nine mothers could have survived if it had provided better care while the trust’s low Caesarean rate was regarded nationally and locally as a positive.

In the review, senior midwife Donna Ockenden found the trust presided over catastrophic failings for 20 years – and did not learn from its own inadequate investigations – which led to babies being stillborn, dying shortly after birth or being left severely brain damaged.

NHS trusts have come under fire for posting job adverts (pictured) for midwives committed to ‘normal birth’ just a week after Britain’s biggest ever maternity death scandal.

One advert posted by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said it is ‘seeking a highly motivated, experienced dynamic midwife to join our team who is committed to the philosophy of normal birth’. Pictured: North Tyneside Hospital, one of the hospitals run by the Trust

The senior midwife who led an investigation into the UK’s biggest maternity scandal has said she would be willing to chair a separate review into alleged failures at another trust, and that she was ‘honoured’ to be asked to do so by affected families.

Some 100 mothers have written to Health Secretary Sajid Javid to criticise the thematic review of maternity incidents currently under way at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) and called for Donna Ockenden to be put in charge.

Ms Ockenden recently delivered the damning report into Shrewsbury and Telford hospital NHS Trust, which saw more than 200 baby deaths and is considered the UK’s biggest maternity scandal.

Families affected by alleged failures at NUH said they have no confidence in the current review process or those leading it, and feel they must speak out about their concerns now ‘if there is any chance of preventing more death and harm to babies, mothers, and families’.

Ms Ockenden told BBC Radio Shropshire she had responded to the families, but that the decision on whether to take on the NUH review is not for her to make.

She said: ‘Clearly there would need to be an appointment process – it’s not up to me to appoint myself of course.

‘I’ve responded (to the families) and said I’m deeply honoured.

‘I would of course take on (and) chair that review, but there is a team in place at the moment, it’s not my decision as to whether I take it on.

‘I know that the families in Nottingham have said that they’ve written to the Secretary of State, so we can await the next steps.’

Despite the report, similar adverts have been posted earlier by NHS trusts in Lewisham and Airedale.

One of those asked for candidates who ‘will be able to demonstrate their commitment and dedication to…promoting the normal birth pathway and reducing intervention rates.’

The adverts were posted by Mr Titcombe, whose son Joshua died at Furness General Hospital in 2008 from sepsis. 

It took years for Mr Titcombe to uncover the truth of what had happened to his son. His campaign led to the Morecambe Bay Inquiry, which found a ‘lethal mix’ of failings led to the unnecessary deaths of one mother and 11 babies.

In a statement, Marion Dickson, executive director of nursing, midwifery & AHPs at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘The safety of our mothers, babies and their families remains at the heart of everything we do.

‘I would like to reassure the public that we are currently reviewing the language used across all of our digital platforms and patient information to reflect the recommendations in the recent report by Donna Ockenden.’

The Shrewsbury and Telford inquiry found some babies suffered skull fractures, broken bones or developed cerebral palsy after traumatic forceps deliveries, while others were starved of oxygen and experienced life-changing brain injuries.

The report said midwifery staff were ‘overly confident’ in their abilities, and there was a reluctance to involve more senior staff.

On Thursday night, it emerged that Ms Ockenden would be willing to chair a separate review into alleged failures at another trust.

Some 100 mothers have written to Health Secretary Sajid Javid to criticise the thematic review of maternity incidents currently under way at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) and called for Ms Ockenden to be put in charge.

She said she would chair the Nottingham review but that it was not her decision to make.

Of the letter to Mr Javid, a Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said it took ‘patient safety concerns at Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust’s maternity services very seriously.

‘The Trust is taking action to improve services but we are closely monitoring progress in improving the standard of care for mothers and babies.’

In a letter sent to hospitals in England last month, the health service’s chief midwife Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent and national clinical director for maternity Dr Matthew Jolly told all maternity services to ‘stop using caesarean section rates as a means of performance management’.

They said: ‘We are concerned by the potential for services to pursue targets that may be clinically inappropriate and unsafe in individual cases.’

The Royal College of Midwives formally abandoned its ‘normal birth’ campaign in 2017, after previously praising trusts for keeping these rates low. It now admits to ‘regretting’ that decision.

In July last year a health committee report also recommended this should be scrapped, adding that it was ‘deeply concerning’ that maternity services had been penalised for having high rates in the past.

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