Women choosing private midwives... with price tag of £5,000

“It’s been wonderful”: Victoria Frederick with son Hendrix
Ross Lydall @RossLydall11 January 2018

Pregnant women are increasingly turning to independent midwives to help deliver their babies, figures have revealed.

About 2,000 births a year in London are being handled by private midwives, either in the mother’s home or at NHS hospitals. This can cost up to £5,000, but a unique partnership in Waltham Forest offers the service free on the NHS to low-risk mothers-to-be.

So far 123 babies have been born under the partnership with Neighbourhood Midwives, an employee-owned social enterprise, since it was set up just over a year ago. Of these, 61 have been home births.

In line with the NHS’s Better Births review to improve outcomes and reduce stillbirths, premature births and harm to babies, the aim is to ensure women retain the same midwife and are supported to have as stress-free a delivery as possible.

Tina Perridge, co-founder of Neighbourhood Midwives, said: “They get continuity of care. They get their visits at home. They have much more freedom about where they give birth. They know the midwife really well. They get excellent post-natal care. They get better outcomes. Why wouldn’t a woman choose that?”

Teacher Victoria Frederick, 32, had her son Hendrix with Neighbourhood Midwives under the Waltham Forest two-year pilot last July. She said: “It’s been wonderful. I can’t praise them enough. The midwives felt like part of the family from very early on. They made me feel really relaxed about everything and I think that has just been passed on to [Hendrix] as he is such a chilled baby.”

She added: “My sister had quite a long and difficult labour in hospital and that had quite an impact on me. As a result, I was keen to find out what other choices were open to me and the Neighbourhood Midwives provided exactly what I was looking for. I had the same midwives supporting me all the way through my pregnancy and birth, and the continuity of care they provided made such a difference. The support I had was incredible — like nothing I’ve experienced before.”

The figures, from NHS England London, also reveal about 2,000 women a year give birth in independent hospitals.

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