(Jenni) We bought a safe, which was working well until pharmacy changed their minds and withdrew permission. Maybe it would be allowed in your area. Good luck, Jenni.

(julie) Hi there! I am a midwife on the post grad certificate programme and will be implementing (I hope ) a service improvement. In our unit we find it very frustrating looking for the drug cupboard keys (its always the last person you ask who has them!!) and it wastes so much time. I,m sure we are not alone and would be grateful to hear from anyone who has any ideas on how to solve this problem or indeed anyone who has! thanks...julie

(Catherine Everett) Hi there, I am putting together an article for a glossy women's monthly magazine about how people will be spending Christmas. This would be a feel-good piece about the jobs and activities that different people do over the festive season. I would love to feature a midwife who usually works over Christmas at a hospital and will be doing so again this year. She might have a family of her own but doesn't mind working over the holiday and enjoys helping new mums deliver the best...

(MidNews) Geneva/Rome, 26 September 2008 – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are urging affected countries to ensure safe feeding of millions of infants following the ongoing melamine milk crisis in China. The two agencies also called on countries to be alert to the possible spread of melamine contaminated dairy products. Safe feeding "While breastfeeding is the ideal way of providing infants with the nutrients they need for healthy growth and...

(MidNews) Responding to the release today of figures on home births from the Office for National Statistics, Cathy Warwick, general secretary designate of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “Even a small increase in the home-birth rate is encouraging, but the numbers remain very low and there is much more that can be done to improve them. “There are many women who want to give birth at home but do not get the chance, largely because there are simply not enough midwives out there to make that choice a...

(MidNews) Caesarean section rates remain worryingly high, and midwife numbers are still failing to keep up with the rising birthrate, says the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), responding to the release today of new figures from the NHS Information Centre. Cathy Warwick, deputy general secretary designate of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “Choice should be at the heart of care for women, including choice about how their baby is delivered, and that choice should never be denied to them. However,...

(MidNews) The 11th Anniversary Midwife of the Year Awards regional winners have been selected by a panel of judges to go forward to a glittering awards luncheon on 1st October. The awards will feature not only the Midwife of the Year Award selected from thousands of entries but also a Lifetime Achievement Award for a midwife who has demonstrated outstanding service as well as a Student Midwife of the Year Award for those midwives about to enter the profession and who have shown outstanding talent....

(MidNews) Today Clearblue launches the NEW, breakthrough Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test with Conception Indicator - the FIRST and ONLY home pregnancy test that is so advanced it is capable of telling a woman both if she is pregnant, and indicating when she conceived. This ground breaking pregnancy test from the UK’s leading pregnancy and fertility brand maintains all the benefits, top accuracy and reliability of the original Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test, but has the unique advantage of the...

(MidNews) The clinical director responsible for children’s services at Yeovil District Hospital is launching a campaign aimed at GPs and community midwives to raise awareness of how a few drops of sucrose can relieve the pain of young babies being given routine jabs and blood tests. Dr Paul Heaton has spent many years researching and promoting the use of sucrose as an analgesic for newborns undergoing medical procedures. He has addressed conferences in Iran, Australia and New Zealand and had papers...

(MidNews) Call for massive investment in health visiting to meet government goals A quarter of health visitors in England fear that ‘another Victoria Climbie’ could happen in their NHS trust, new research from Unite, the country’s largest trade union, revealed today (Thursday, 18 September). The survey by Unite/Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association of 829 health visitors in England revealed 25% thought the chances of a repetition of the fate of the eight-year old girl tortured to...

(MidNews) Midwives, health visitors and healthcare professionals can now refer new mums and dads to NCT classes without any worries since the NCT has just increased the number of its antenatal and postnatal classes making it even easier to find a space and book up. The NCT’s move is a response to a recent survey highlighting a crisis of confidence many people face when looking after a baby. The latest NCT survey found that, when it came to looking after a newborn baby, one in two parents (47%) said...

(MidNews) A midwife at Yeovil District Hospital has teamed up with her daughter to create a website which encourages parents to go out for walks with their buggies and young children. Cathy Netley has worked at Yeovil District Hospital for 20 years and, for the past eight, has been a midwife in the Women’s Hospital. But her new venture is benefiting parents across the country. Cathy said: “We developed the website after my daughter Marie was finding it difficult to go out walking with my 18-month old...

(MidNews) In response to a recent survey which identified the difficulties women have in obtaining information and consistent advice about their health during pregnancy, UK based maternity information charity, MIDIRS, presents its Informed Choice resource as a solution to these latest findings. The survey of 1,300 women, carried out by the baby charity Tommy’s and Johnson’s Baby, revealed that almost half of the women asked said they received conflicting information about their pregnancy that left them...

(MidNews) Advanced infant simulation techniques are now helping teams of junior paediatric doctors and nurses train more effectively to deal with the first hours of critical care for sick babies. St Mary’s Hospital, part of Imperial College NHS Trust in London, has developed a unique mobile infant simulation system which is being used to replicate actual conditions and problems faced by paediatric teams by taking the training out of a conventional simulation centre onto the wards. “I bring the simulator...

(MidNews) Virgin Health Bank, the UK’s only licensed and accredited, cord blood bank offering both public and private benefits, welcomes greater Government interest and involvement as Health Secretary, Alan Johnston prepares to open the new Cord Blood Bank at the Nottingham Trent University on Thursday 11 September. Virgin Health Bank CEO, David Macauley, said: “The excellent NHS Cord Blood Bank has been woefully under-resourced and underfunded for a decade or more and as a result the number of blood...

(MidNews) Commenting on the Home Office’s Migration Advisory Committee’s decision to remove midwives from the job shortage occupation list, the RCM’s General Secretary Dame Karlene Davis said:   “We are deeply disappointed with the Home Office’s Migration advisory committee chair Professor David Metcalf’s claim that a national shortage of midwives is not supported by much evidence. “There is a serious shortage of midwives in England and I would like to see the evidence that contradicts this. Even the...

(MidNews) Every year, around four women with epilepsy die during pregnancy or giving birth, meaning they face a seven times greater risk than women without epilepsy, warns national charity Epilepsy Action. It is this gap which has prompted the charity to launch its Mothers in mind: healthy births campaign during National Pregnancy Health Month (September). The campaign will work towards giving more mums with epilepsy and their babies a happy and healthy future. A recent report called Saving Mothers'...

(MidNews) The trustees of the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust (IMT) are pleased to announce the award of the 2008 Research Fellowship to midwife Julie Wray, who is pursuing her PhD studies at the Salford Centre for Nursing, Midwifery and Collaborative Research, University of Salford. The Fellowship will provide funding for the final phase of the doctorate, to be submitted in 2009. Julie’s research focuses on what she terms ‘birth recovery’ – the period in which new mothers receive postnatal care - and the...

(MidNews) Janet Fyle, professional policy advisor, of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “Cross feeding is the new wet nursing and one small aspect of breastfeeding. As we know, wet nursing has been around for centuries so this programme is not exploring a new issue. It is probably a minority of women who are engaged in this activity. However, the documentary does not address the more serious issue of the low breastfeeding rates in the UK. We believe that mothers will always adapt and do what is in...

(MidNews) The Fatherhood Institute is inviting Children’s Centres and other children’s services across the UK to take part in the UK version of a groundbreaking American ante-natal peer support programme for dads-to-be. ‘Hit the Ground Crawling’ – which is already up-and-running as a pilot in Staffordshire and features in a Radio 4 documentary to be broadcast on Monday 15 September* - involves groups of expectant fathers learning childcare skills from new dads and their babies. Specially trained...