Closure: How the Flagship Albany Midwifery Practice, at the Heart of Its South London Community, Was Demonised and Dismantled - Couverture souple

Reed, Becky; Edwards, Nadine

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 178066785X ISBN 13 : 9781780667850

Editeur : Pinter & Martin Ltd., 2023

Synopsis

In 1997 the Albany Midwifery Practice in Peckham, South London, negotiated a pioneering NHS contract with King’s College Hospital Trust. The Albany model of midwifery care was loved and respected not only by those who experienced it first-hand, but also by the wider midwifery profession. Founded to serve one of the most disadvantaged populations in London, its innovative approach led to improved outcomes for mothers and their babies. Why, then, was the practice suddenly shut down in 2009?

Although it was widely acknowledged that the Albany model offered gold-standard care, the hospital trust claimed that since March 2006 this care had been ‘unsafe’. But both the data and the methodology used to condemn the practice were flawed, and the real reasons for the closure remained obscure. Despite extensive protests by mothers and families, midwives, and many high-profile supporters, the Albany was forced to close its doors and one of the midwives was subjected to a punitive investigation by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which eventually found that there was no case to answer.

Midwives and campaigners have long pushed for answers about what really happened to this flagship midwifery practice. In this damning assessment, based on years of careful research and interviews, the authors reveal how a hugely successful healthcare project was undermined and dismantled, to the detriment of mothers and babies, the wider community and the midwifery profession as a whole.

As maternity services are scrutinised once more, and as the NHS struggles to implement its policy of continuity of midwifery care, this hard-hitting account of the fate of the Albany could not be more relevant or more timely.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Becky Reed is a retired midwife, who has always believed passionately in the importance of continuity in midwifery care. She helped to set up the well-known, much-loved and influential Albany Midwifery Practice (AMP) in Peckham, South London, and worked in the Practice until its untimely closure. She has published many articles and spoken widely about this innovative, gold standard model. In 2016 she published her first book: ‘Birth in Focus: Stories and photos to inform, educate and inspire’, using stories in words and pictures from births at the Albany. Following the closure of the AMP in 2009, and a subsequent NMC investigation lasting three and a half years with an eventual finding of ‘no case to answer’ in July 2013, it has taken Becky almost a decade to feel able to write Closure.

Nadine Edwards began her career as a birth activist in 1976. and started running pregnancy and postnatal groups some years later. These developed into the Pregnancy and Parents Centre in Edinburgh, a well-loved local charity that works with families before and after birth. Her passion has always been examining the politics of maternity care and midwifery, which led to writing Birthing Autonomy, Birthing Your Baby, and Birthing Your Placenta (with Sara Wickham), along with many articles and book chapters. Nadine became involved in the campaign to save the Albany Midwifery Practice when she discovered that it was under threat while collecting articles for an AIMS Journal on midwifery models of excellence. Writing Closure with Becky Reed felt crucial, knowing that the midwives provided a model of care that served women and babies best.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Pinter & Martin Ltd.
• Date d'édition: 2023
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 178066785X
• ISBN 13: 9781780667850
• Reliure: Broché
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 272
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: GPSR Kontakt; gpsr@libri.de; ; Friedensallee 273; Hamburg; 22763; Allemagne