Maternity services in the NHS are over stretched and underfunded. Maternity Units are under threat or closing across the land. Temporary closures are common. Staff are keeping the service afloat so most mothers and babies are still safely delivered.But serious damage is now showing in the research from Liverpool University into deaths of babies in the UK, especially in areas of high poverty.

On 5th October 2019 October we met at the Friends meeting house in Liverpool to discuss the national state of the maternity services. We gathered people to hear Professor Wendy Savage, eminent doctor, Jessica Ormerod Researcher, from Public Matters, and Rayah Feldman from Maternity Action. We started with this video from Rebecca Smythe who teaches Midwifery in Manchester and was once a midwife at Liverpool Women’s Hospital and at Mill Road Hospital . Rebecca spoke of the realities and the hopes of mid wives and student midwives.

This was our agenda

Aims To discuss the state of NHS maternity services nationally and to work out how to improve them, including how to involve women, staff , the wider  trade union movement, and the public in this campaign

Agenda for the day

10-11am Registration, coffee

MORNING SESSION –“MATERNITY MATTERS”

11.00 Chair’s welcome & order of the day

11.05-11.15 – Video message from Rebecca Smyth, senior lecture in midwifery, SLWH campaign (sadly  Rebecca is out of the country, hence the video message) dealing with issues facing midwives

11.15 -11.40 – Professor Wendy Savage (including the battle for a women-centred NHS)

11.40-12 –Jessica Ormerod (‘Better Births’ & the Cumberledge agenda, Rhetoric v Reality)

12- 12.45 – Q & A & discussion from the floor with the panel

12.345-1.30 LUNCH –lunch provided, some flexibility to shorten if running late

AFTERNOON SESSION – CAMPAIGNING

1.30.-2 00pm Chair introduces Rayah Feldman, Maternity Action campaign on migrant charges

2- pm 2.50 – Breakout groups discussing  

Campaigning successes 

Reaching wider audiences

What next

2.50-3.10 Tea break

3.15- Building the campaign to defend and improve NHS maternity services, improve women’s health care services, defend infant and child health services and defend and reinstate the NHS4.00 Chair’s close & thanks

We will share reports from the rest of the meeting over the next few days