Why independent midwifery care?
Independent midwives have undergone the same training as NHS midwives and uphold the same standards of practice set out by our independent regulatory body - the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Independent midwives have many reasons for choosing to be self-employed. I personally feel that being an independent midwife means providing a high standard of truly woman-centred care; many other IMs have chosen this way of work for similar reasons.
Choosing independent midwifery care guarantees your family the expertise and time needed to make small and big decisions. Informed choice means: balanced information, presented in language or a format that can be understood, free from coercion or bias. Ensuring clients are making informed choices is a legal requirement for those working in healthcare, such as midwives.
Perhaps you feel after a previous birth that you would have made different decisions if you had been given more information? Perhaps you want to plan a home birth, but live in an area where the NHS home birth service is patchy or permanently suspended? Booking with an independent midwife may be right for you and your family. Choosing independent care ensures that when the time for birth arrives, you can rely on having a familiar and trusted midwife present.
Booking your care with me during your pregnancy provides one point of contact; which for many families gives huge piece of mind. Working with an independent midwife does not mean that NHS services are no longer available to you. For clients with complexities the relevant referrals to consultant obstetricians, consultant midwives, mental health services will be offered. In labour and postnatally, the expertise and specialist equipment available in NHS maternity and neonatal services is also of course accessible to you and your baby, should it be needed or wanted. My clients usually choose to have bloods and scans with the NHS, but private testing can be arranged. Independent midwives work alongside the multidisciplinary team of obstetricians/consultant midwives/mental health services/GPs as required and desired by the individual client.