Critics warn the term “normal birth” is extremely harmful to both mothers and babies.
Hospitals across the country have come under fire for the continued use of the term “natural birth” only a week after a highly damning report into baby and mother deaths.
The Ockenden report published earlier this month found that both mothers and babies had come to harm through the pursuit of “natural births”.
Reinforcing this rhetoric, one job advert from an acute hospital trust looked to recruit a “a highly motivated, experienced dynamic midwife to join our team who is committed to the philosophy of normal birth.”
A second advert called for a midwife for a midwife-led unit who is interested in the “promotion of normality”.
Several other adverts were also identified; the majority have since been removed by the respective trusts.
Critics warn the term “normal birth” is extremely harmful to both mothers and babies and can cause a potentially life-threatening delay in essential medical care.
Trying for a normal birth all the time.
In the report, one patient commented, “I felt that my concerns during labour were not addressed, that I was made to have a natural birth when an emergency c-section was more appropriate just so they didn’t dent their precious natural birth rate target. I felt like I was on a butcher’s slab.”
A midwife explained to investigators that others were always keen to “try to avoid a caesarean section” and “try for a normal birth all the time”.
Explaining, that they would “just let things run purely because they didn’t want the doctors to come in, and sometimes you could see some of the shift leaders not wanting to call the registrar in or any of the doctors in”.
The head of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has since apologised for its part in promoting “normal” births that contributed to the deaths of mothers and babies.
The Ockenden report has set out numerous recommendations including normalising medical intervention when it is required and improving communication between medical and midwifery teams.
