I am writing as someone who has been personally affected by failings in maternity services at Nottingham university hospitals NHS trust. Zoe Williams (Midwives want to make childbirth miraculous – so what went so wrong in Nottingham?, 1 June) correctly acknowledges the affect of austerity on maternity services (I can attest to that, having worked in the public sector), but it in no way excuses the repeated failings that so many of us have endured.
Austerity is not the reason that midwives, health visitors and doctors failed to conduct routine care for my partner. Understaffing was evident, but it did not prevent routine wound inspections and the taking of samples to confirm suspected infections. What I saw again and again was an ingrained arrogance, an attitude of “we know better” and an utter unwillingness to listen or learn.
The consequences of this were very nearly fatal. We have had no apology. There remains no accountability. We have to live with those consequences every day. To say that this is “at least equally a story about austerity” is to fail to acknowledge the full story in favour of a merry-go-round of political buck‑passing. I have had enough.
Name and address supplied
• While I am appalled at what I have read about the midwifery service at Nottingham university hospitals trust, I felt compelled to write about my positive experience at this trust. I had a long and complicated labour in 2010, and the midwifery care was outstanding. The midwife stayed by my side the whole time, and then came to the ward at the end of her shift to check on me again. She and all the staff made me feel cared for and safe at a time when I was terrified and in significant pain.
I have much sympathy for the families that did not have the experiences I did, but I believe that those midwives and other health professionals who do an amazing job need to be recognised and thanked for doing so, despite the conditions in which they may have been working.
Kate Simpson
Beeston, Nottinghamshire
• I was struck by Zoe Williams writing “There’s a lot of patriarchal baggage in medicine generally”. As a male doctor (now GP for 18 years), I am inclined to agree. I have reflected over my 22 years of NHS service and whether there have been times when I have (unintentionally) not taken the pain of my patients seriously. I like to think not. However, I do recall my own professional experience working in obstetrics and what it taught me.
In the 12 months that I spent working on labour wards as a junior doctor 20 years ago, all the midwives were female. One of the main reasons I chose to leave obstetrics was the contempt I saw midwives show their patients. I was perplexed that women could lack such compassion for other women at one of the most vulnerable moments in their lives.
While there were midwives who were dedicated and compassionate, too often I saw people who treated patients as an inconvenience. No doubt working in an underresourced environment was a factor in brutalising these professionals. As a GP who trains GPs, I always remind them that the NHS pays scant regard to the wellbeing of those who work in it. We must care for ourselves and each other in order to care for our patients. In my experience, patients value compassion and competence equally highly. Too often in medicine, the former is lacking, which compromises the latter.
Dr Thomas C McAnea
Sheffield
• One aspect about the concern for the care of women in labour, including derogatory comments, possible misogyny and racial bias, is the absence of any mention of the potential conflict between medical obstetricians and midwives.
My six months in obstetrics and gynaecology was marred by the attitude of the midwives that medical intervention was to be avoided at all costs, and their distinctly superior attitude to junior doctors on the ward. This mindset was exposed in the inquiry into morbidity in the Furness general hospital in Barrow in 2015, when it found that these attitudes resulted in maternal and neonatal harm.
Dr Michael Stevenson
Bootle, Cumbria
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
