This year, British Journal of Midwifery (BJM) celebrates 25 years of publication, having provided those who work in women's health and maternity services with a wealth of clinical, professional and educational content throughout the years. The journal prides itself in publishing the most relevant and up-to-date original research, evidence-based papers and clinical reviews, which aim to establish best practice in midwifery. The same year, on 8 March 1993, I was welcomed into the world by the team of midwives and obstetricians at Warrington hospital—the same hospital where I now work as a midwife.
Midwifery practice has seen many changes in the past 25 years, from the introduction of new technology and equipment, to changes in midwifery regulators and the publication of significant documents and government policies. Midwives and maternity services have frequently been in the spotlight, and I am sure that this will continue in the future (Cliffe, 2015).
BJM was launched in the same year as Changing Childbirth (Department of Health and Social Care, 1993), a report that has seen a drive in maternity services to highlight women's choice and control, and to stress the importance of continuity of carer. In addition, the report focused on the importance of midwives in maternity care and aimed to break down the idea that hospital is always the safest place for birth (Wilson, 2013). We are now in the year 2018, within those 25 years, there have been many government national drives, the development and publication of new evidence and research. Throughout all of this, however, there has remained one constant theme: women and their families at the centre of their own care plans, with services wrapped around them.
My mother was pregnant and gave birth to me during the time of Changing Childbirth, and now, 25 years on, I am supporting women and their families in my role as a midwife as we implement the update to Changing Childbirth, Better Births (National Maternity Review, 2016).
Baroness Cumberledge, who chaired the National Maternity Review, opened the report with a statement that summarised women's experience and how maternity staff are uniquely positioned:
‘The birth of a child should be a wonderful, life-changing time for a mother and her whole family. It is a time of new beginnings, of fresh hopes and new dreams, of change and opportunity. It is a time when the experiences we have can shape our lives and those of our babies and families forever. These moments are so precious, and so important.’
When talking with my mother, she still has clear memories of pregnancy and birth, and she has never forgotten her midwife—the same community midwife who I now work alongside at Warrington Hospital.
The memories that my mother has, as well as Baroness Cumberledge's statement, is a reminder of the effect that midwives have on women and their families: regardless of historical or national policies, the care is invaluable and irreplaceable. Midwives are uniquely positioned to ensure that women are not only cared for safely, but also have their needs met. In today's society, midwives are often faced with the ever changing nature of day-to-day practice, the demands of completing paperwork, staff shortages, reconfiguration of maternity services and the constant government financial budgets, all of which affect maternity and healthcare services across the UK (Cliffe, 2016). Yet, above all, it should still be the hope of all midwives to support, listen, advocate and empower women in their childbirth experience.