Some may argue the healthcare system is responsible for an increase in unnecessary intervention; in 2016 the NHS faced a £1.6 billion cost in clinical negligence lawsuits. (Pasha-Robinson, 2017) Arguably, this could put considerable pressure on obstetricians and midwives to compensate for this by utilising as much medical procedures as possible, especially since litigation relates to obstetrics 70% of the time. (Johanson, 2002) The Morcambe Bay report was published in 2015, which exposed clinical negligence of midwives which led to several deaths, and implied that these deaths could have been avoided if midwives weren’t trying to ‘pursue natural birth at any cost’. (Kirkup, 2015) A natural response to these tragic events would be to compensate by intervening more, at the slightest hint that something may be wrong. Sadly, the actions of a few dominant midwives in the Morcambe Bay trust may have damaged the reputation of natural birth and midwives for years to come.
Unfortunately, in the UK at least, we do live in a culture of blame, and in a society where very few babies die, this means that fingers are often pointed at midwives when something goes wrong. In fact, a study indicates that such is the environment within the NHS that midwives themselves blame themselves, experiencing a lot of guilt and shame along with a high pressure to conform with other midwives. (Kirkham, 1999) This environment where midwives experience so much pressure, and feel very much in the public eye cannot lead to positive, supportive relationships between mothers and their midwives, or midwives with their peers. As a result, this may lead to high levels of anxiety in both the midwife and the mother, therefore leading to an increase in medical intervention.
Midwifery EPQ 