Comments
1. At 12.59 on 4 July 2008, a concerned and tired midwife wrote:
While there is no denying that the maternity care in this country is still very short of it's aims and objectives, especially in caring for women in the postnatal period, it's a pity that Myleene Klass has decided to use her experience to demonise midwives and take a swipe at us for responding to her celebrity status rather than her person. I wish that Myleene and others like her would think before speaking. I see no good in her utterances, and certainly nothing to empathise with the thousands of midwives out there who are literally sacrificing their lives to keep the maternity care in this country going. People like her should direct their frustrations and anger at the right quarters: the government who makes all these wonderful promises to women and never thinks it's necessary to provide adequate resources to implement them! Constructive criticism in the right quarter, by the right person can make a significant impact on the system, and I believe Myleene Klass got it wrong this time.
2. At 13.57 on 5 July 2008, midwife in York wrote:
Who does she think she is trying to champion a better service for the good of other women? Sorry, but I can’t stand the celebrity sob story. Either have your paid care organised to extend into the postnatal period, or put up and shut up, like everyone else! The article is not in the public’s interest - just increasing her own copy. I bet she doesn’t buy her feeding bras from M&S either!
3. At 14.32 on 6 July 2008, anon wrote:
I have to admit I was outraged at her portrayal of NHS midwives. I have never heard of women waiting 6 days for a visit from the midwife. Nor have I ever heard or told a woman I was too busy to visit her.
Personally I feel the private facility she paid for forgot to inform her local NHS community midwife that she had been discharged to NHS community care for the post natal period.
Also a 37-week baby is officially classed as full term. So maybe she should get her facts straight before complaining about the care she and her ‘premature’ baby suffered!
Ms Klass is just looking for a way to feather her own nest through the tabloids. Her comments don't help women; they just make them fearful of the service we offer. If Ms Klass realised that the majority of the service offered relies on good will of the midwives, rather than payment, maybe she would realise that the service only stands up because of the work we do that goes unrecompensed. I.e. offering to be second on call for home deliveries in our own personal time, which has an impact on our home and personal lives.
The midwives were not a disgrace in this article, Ms Klass was.
4. At 17.23 on 6 July 2008, Linda Roberts wrote:
Midwives and NHS rescources may well be overstretched in some areas at varying times. Had Ms Klass opted for the continuity of midwife-led care or built a relationship with a named community midwife perhaps her experiences might have been different.
I wonder if time was allowed for this? I am inclined to think not judging on her many TV appearances prior to the birth!
Come on Myleene you deserved better, but you did not know any better I think.
5. At 16.00 on 7 July 2008, private lactation consultant wrote:
Actually I agree with Myleene. The NHS community midwives are stretched to the limit. Told by management to only do two to three visits, the older ones do as many as needed, especially with first-time mums. I see this often when people call me privately as a lactation consultant, after they have asked repeatedly for help from the NHS staff. I don't think she is promoting her baby range much at all.
6. At 17.38 on 7 July 2008, weary NHS midwife wrote:
What a shame Myleene didn't research the possibility of having an independent midwife. That way, with the advantage she has of money being no object, she could have had a midwife at her beck and call without having to rub shoulders with other lesser mortals. Why pay for private inpatient care and then expect private-style care from the NHS afterwards? I hope when she has her next baby she takes herself and her criticism outside of our NHS. Her kind of negativity we don't need.
7. At 19.22 on 7 July 2008, guest wrote:
The baby would, I presume, not have been sent home with jaundice if there were any cause for concern. The lack of midwife visits or contact may well have been due to poor communication between the private hospital and the appropriate discharge area.
It is not stated what visits were made after the initial visit. I am sure her name had nothing to do with the quick response.
8. At 19.38 on 7 July 2008, concerned wrote:
Midwives in the NHS aren't tired, they are burnt out trying to provide the care that all mothers should get, but in many instances don't, because of sickness due to lack of balance in our units. Always short staffed, no breaks never mind lunch breaks, and no support for newly qualified midwives. Some are being left in charge of 30, sometimes very sick women on a night shift is something no junior or newly qualified midwife should experience, but this happens all the time. Midwives returning from sickness or some personal upheaval are being thrown in at the deep end with no support, and some midwives are working up to thirteen days in a row because of bad management and off duty coordination.
I love my job but I love my family more, I feel guilty at putting them first because I am a good midwife and I believe that the majority of midwives often put their vocation before their families but to what avail? We are treated as second class citizens, we are verbally and sometimes physically abused and we work so hard to make things right for mothers and babies but get no praise (not that that’s what we want but it would be nice every now and again, rather than always hearing the negative). Our lives are midwifery, otherwise we wouldn't be here we would be in Morrisons (which by the way is where a lot of our newly qualified midwives end up). It's not a lack of midwives it’s a lack of vacant positions being offered by Trusts who seem hell bent on demoralising and belittling midwives.
I don't think that there are many professions that cope with the amount of responsibility that midwives cope with day in day out. It isn't something that you automatically leave at work! Please give our midwives the support and recognition that they deserve, stop management ignoring the fact that there is a much bigger problem than they report otherwise we will have an NHS full of inexperienced midwives and no seniority because they have all had enough or are too ill to work anymore. Myleene Klass needs to get a proper job and take off her rose tinted specs.
9. At 21.14 on 7 July 2008, midwife lecturer from West Midlands wrote:
What happened to her antenatal care? Did she experience private care throughout or were NHS midwives involved at this point? That would have given her the opportunity to build a rapport ready for postnatal support.
10. At 00.40 on 8 July 2008, anon wrote:
I've just read the article for the first time, and my initial thought was, how can the interviewer state that “As we talk it becomes clear that many of Myleene’s postnatal problems stemmed from a traumatic week following Ava’s birth, thanks to a lacklustre NHS”? Is she a trained counsellor or therapist? There could have been any number of reasons why Myleene had postnatal problems, including self expectations of the birth and motherhood, tiredness, recovery from the delivery, as well as postnatal blues. Obviously, the lack of midwifery support didn’t help the situation, but that isn’t necessarily the be all and end all of Myleenes postnatal problems. It is, however, difficult for us to get a fuller picture as we only have one side of the story – Myleene’s. Did it really take six days to get a midwife out to her? And did two midwives really suddenly appear because she dropped her pseudonym? The answer to those questions will probably not be answered.
Unfortunately, I don’t feel that the article helps mothers because they would still see Myleene as privileged, after all, she did deliver in the private Lindo Wing for starters, and she stated that next time, she’ll still go private for some things whereas the woman next door can’t afford to do that. It also gives midwives a bad reputation, making out that we can’t be bothered or care when we do. If she wished to highlight the shortages of midwives, she could have done it another way instead of putting all her problems on the lack of midwifery support.
As for describing the article as another piece of self-promotional rhetoric, trying to pass itself off as a newsworthy story, I don’t agree with that statement. Although her career and baby range are mentioned, the majority of the interview is about her relationship and new baby, but we all know that these interviews are usually done to promote a particular programme, new song, clothes range and we haven’t been disappointed on that score!
11. At 09.07 on 8 July 2008, midwife in Derbyshire wrote:
I agree this is a celebrity trying to get some news coverage. One paragraph in a page is hardly making a stand for new mothers. Also The Sun should have acted more fairly and given the maternity services the chance to explain why she was not visited at home.
12. At 13.16 on 8 July 2008, a thoughtful friend wrote:
Myleene Klass should not infuriate you. She is only articulating what many women feel and would like to tell us (midwives) but are unable to do so because we are too busy or short staffed to listen!
Have some of us lost sight of what it is to be a midwife or the fact that women do need midwives especially in the postnatal period? For most women, this is when it is important to have the help, support and advice of a midwife. It appears that some of us do not see it that way. We now want women to come and find us or visit us in our Ivory Towers (postnatal clinics). Whatever happened to seeing women in their own home where we can make a quick guesstimate as to what their needs are and how we can help them? Midwives, do not complain when the government finds someone other than a midwife who is willing to support and help women through such a trying period. Wake up and smell the coffee; you could be responsible for your own demise!
13. At 16:14 on 8 July 2008, anon wrote:
I am sick and tired of reading and listening to people in the public eye criticising the NHS and more specifically midwives and maternity care. I am not pretending that the system is perfect or that there isn't room for improvement, but I have yet to hear Fern Britten tell the story of a mother who had a positive birth experience, or Lorraine Kelly discuss the skills that midwives and their colleagues use everyday to save the lives of mothers and babies. Add to this the frequent moans of "regular working mums" like Myleene Klass (God forbid she should leave her baby at home to do a 14 hour shift on a busy labour ward). Is it any wonder that we can't recruit and retain enough midwives to provide quality maternity care?
14. At 15.04 on 9 July 2008, NJ Labour ward sister wrote:
Yet another celeb (and I use that term loosely) cashing in on pregnancy, labour, etc, etc. Perhaps she should have stayed private for the whole process! As for campaigning for ordinary women, how can she when she has the luxury of wealth, and has never experienced what ordinary women do?
15. At 21.54 on 9 July 2008, Jackie Price wrote:
I was disappointed to read this article, on several counts. What a pity Myleene felt she had to go private for her care, when midwives are providing a first class service to women without the "nannying" effect of an obstetrician where a woman enjoys normal pregnancy and birth.
If Myleene is such an advocate of normal, she should have stayed with midwife led care for a safe and personal experience.
What happened postnatal I wonder? It may be that yet again, our arch enemy "communication" has let us down, and if Myleene had been able to stress her concerns, I am certain that as caring professionals, midwives would have given the right response.
I sincerely hope that her poor experience has been investigated, as even during this time of low staffing levels and moral, midwives don't ignore a cry for help, and there must certainly be a logical explanation for the delay in visiting.
Also, has no-one explained to Myleene that a baby born at 37 weeks is full term?
16. At 13:59 on 11 July 2008, guest wrote:
Congratulations on the arrival of your new baby Ms Klass and welcome to the real world!!
17 . At 10.19 on 14 July 2008, Ailish Edwards wrote:
My answer to this also is why did she feel it was necessary to use a different name? Especially as she was in the private wing at St. Mary's - It's not like anyone would know who she was. Personally I think she created this scenario herself by trying not to be herself. Yes as we all know we are stretched but I don't feel the NHS is to blame in this situation.
18. At 12.51 on 15 July 2008, Sally Hinchliffe wrote:
I do feel Myleene is justified in her critisism of her postnatal care.
I worked as a community midwife, the traditional type! We visited our primips daily to ten days and they all found it so reassuring and supportive. I retired early when my job was to change into teams. I felt very strongly that this very individual care and strong continuity with our mothers would disappear, which sadly I feel has occurred.
Five years on, I still meet my old clients who say their care was not as good as when I and my colleages were caring for them.
19. At 2.34 on 17 July 2008, Deborah Hill wrote:
Myleene Klass infuriates me! Who did she visit antenatally? Why didn't she contact her community midwife? Surely this would be the same person postnatally. I don't need someone like her to 'champion' my cause as a working mother – she should try doing two or three 12 hourr shifts and not seeing her baby at all for those days and then she can call herself a 'working mum'.
20. At 23.06 on 27 July 2008, Sarah H wrote:
Regardless of our opinions of Myleene, this does highlight the appalling changes in working practice that have occurred recently in my local unit, as women no longer receive postnatal visits at home but are having to travel to hospital or clinics. This devalues the postnatal care which has been provided over the years and for the sake of new mothers and babies as well as community midwifery, this needs to be rectified without delay.
21. At 8.30 on 28 July 2008, Lynn G Walcott wrote:
I'm afraid that your blog/comments on Myleene just come across as the usual NHS excuses - no staff. There is no excuse for poor communication - consistently shown to be the cause of many critical incidents, near misses and worse. A new mother was not visited despite repeated phonecalls - this was remedied when the private hospital eventually enforced their own duty of care - I see a fault on both sides here - NHS and private - but none on the new mother. I would like to add, that should I leave a new mother not visited like this, I would be before the NMC before you could say 'struck off' - I am an Independent midwife. Where is the responsibility for this poor postnatal care? Definitely not with the new mother!
22. At 12:50 on 31 July 2008, RJH wrote:
How different can care in the NHS be?! In East Devon where I work, postnatal care continues to be individualised with visits when appropriate. Clients have 24-hour access to midwives, via a midwife-led unit for support. We shouldn't blanket Myleene’s care as standard NHS care.
23. At 19:39 on 1 August 2008, Sharyn McKenna wrote:
I don't think The Sun report should be read as fact. This is The Sun after all, hardly known for accuracy of reporting! This is The Sun picking what they think is newsworthy probably embellished and inaccurately quoted from an interview in which Myleene was talking about a whole host of things. As a risk manager and midwife I am amazed how inaccurate or misleading stories of maternity cases are reported even from well-respected broad sheets. In my experience you should never jump to any conclusions when all the many facets of a case aren't known.
A full investigation often reveals a very different story altogether as any risk manager will know! Myleene may have had a poor experience but we don't know; what was communicated on discharge if anything from the private sector, the community midwives story on what was advised to Myleene or how many days postnatal Myleene was when discharged etc. If repeated calls were made to request a visit or if she missed the usual postnatal follow up then clearly this is unacceptable. However the NHS Trust that has been criticised needs to investigate this fully and apologise to Myleene if the care was found to be inadequate.
Please don't berate Myleene for talking about her experiences or try and make sense of a Sun newspaper story - why even have a blog about it? She has probably been very widely misquoted!
24. At 21.02 on 15 October 2009, A concerned grandparent wrote:
I feel this highlights the terrible service received by mothers today. Shortages etc in the NHS does not discriminate against anyone no matter what their status. Mylene may have been better keeping her care private throughout. My daughter has had appalling care and even though I knew her baby was breech, she had pre eclampsia, I had to fight and insist on her seeing a consultant. At week 38 they booked her in for an elective section due to the baby's position ( a footling breech) the consultant was disgusted she hadnt been referred earlier. We saw a different midwife each visit I didn't feel as if any of them instilled confidence. They appeared overworked etc. I myself had 3 children all delivered in Scotland. The care before and during and after was excellent..and we had to take an aeroplane flight home. This was in 1992 is the care in Scotland much better. Now my daughter is being sent home exactly 3 days post emergency section he decided to come early by 2 days, the baby is jaundiced not feeding and my daughter has a high temperature etc...and I work in a senior position in the NHS but its all statistics these days, waiting times, turn round times and availability of beds. We need to target that personal approach, allow nurses and doctors to care for their patients. This means more trained midwives and resources and that personal touch. We in the NHS do try hard but sometimes it just falls short.
