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Maternal deaths are an outrage

"In the 21st century, no woman should have to give her life to give life."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ( Reuters 19 May)

"We must find a way to get maternal mortality recognized as a key indicator of a functioning health system. Let us work together to make sure maternal mortality is a …

MEOWS: Recommended

… Obstetric Early Warning System (MEOWS) chart, and indeed I was in Oxford yesterday talking to some midwifery students about their use, and the difference they would almost certainly have made to Jessica.

Not everybody always immediately shares my enthusiasm for them. I've been challenged more than once. It has even been suggested to me that the NHS isn't ready for them. Tosh. In December 2007 …

'Midwife numbers to fall short'

With a weariness I read today yet another story about midwifery staffing levels falling short of the number required  for the government to meet it's own declared standard of care.

BBC: Midwife numbers 'to fall short'

I've said it before, and I expect I'll say it again; please look after our mums properly. The fact that the government thinks …

Life saving treatment wanted asap

I'm not just blogging blindly; I'm interested in what other people think and say, and I also am interested in how people find this website, and where people are linking to it.

I watch referring sites in my log stats, and often visit back. It was in this way that I came across a parenting forum …

Topic for discussion

Maternal death is too uncomfortable a topic for discussion.

Please discuss in the comments.

…

Thank you so much

… instead of thinking that maybe it's a case of flu, they immediately refer themselves back to their midwife or GP, thus saving precious time.

I hope, through the petition, that a large number of other parents and parents-to-be especially agree with this premise, and that together we can show the government that we believe action should be taken now, and not after another unnecessary death from …

Don't miss the bear

… then a gasp!

I had a letter today, from CEMACH, with some of the comments made by the (mainly midwife) delegates at the South East Regional CEMACH conference in Basingstoke Jan 2009, in their evaluation forms. To underline the purpose of Jessica's Trust, the campaign and our petition, I thought I'd share a few:

Jessica's story highlighted the need for MEOWS on the postnatal wards …

1-2-3, Go

… them, but they should be in use nationally. Mandatorily and now.

3. Every doctor and midwife to have a clear sepsis guideline.

It is lamentable that such does not exist. I'm going to add our voice to those already calling for it.

We acknowledged that finding time to work on Jessica's Trust can be hard at times, but the passion is there, and the open line of communication with …

MEOWS

… of sepsis.

When I was in Birmingham the other day I showed the chart to the conference. A midwife came up to me after I had spoken and said that her hospital had had MEOWS on the agenda for a while but that no-one had yet got around to implementing them.

She told me she was on the panel and was going to go back to work to get them implemented. Now.

I want these charts to be used …

The reality of maternal mortality: a father's perspective

This is the text of the speech I gave to The Sixth National Conference on Current Issues in Midwifery organised by the British Journal of Midwifery yesterday. I have reproduced it here by popular request. I am not going to include the photographs of my family that I refer to, nor the medical charts, but the important information from these is in the text. The full version of the story …