Mother forced to have home birth without midwife care after NHS call-out service refuses to send help

A flagship midwife call-out service is under scrutiny after it deliberately abandoned a couple to face a traumatising home birth alone despite receiving desperate calls for help. Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has apologised after staff at its award-winning 24-hour Labour Line refused to send the two midwives it had promised because the call operator mistakenly thought the family lived outside the catchment area. William Fugard was forced to deliver his wife Bryony’s baby himself last Sunday while “screaming down the phone” for help, in what he said was a scene “akin to the middle ages”.

The couple later discovered that a midwife had been dispatched to their house near Tadley, on the Berkshire-Hampshire borer, but had been turned back mid-journey by Labour Line. Set up in 2013, the service was the first in the country to combine 24-hour midwife call-out and helpline services with ambulances services, a template since copied in NHS trusts across England. Mr Fugard, 46, last night called for Hampshire Hospitals to suspend Labour Line until it could be established what went wrong and questioned whether there was a money-saving motive behind the service. He told the Telegraph that from early in the pregnancy, the couple’s third, the trust had appeared “very keen” for he and his wife, 38, to consider having a home birth.

“It was seriously traumatic – I can’t stress what a hell it was,” he said.
“We were cut loose.
“They could hear down the phone what was happening but they didn’t have sufficient humanity to send someone.
“If anything had gone wrong we wouldn’t have had any idea what to do.
“We were just left sitting on the bed holding his grey, seemingly lifeless baby for an hour before an ambulance turned up.”


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/28/mother-forced-to-have-home-birth-without-midwife-care/

Paul Ettinger wrote:A flagship midwife call-out service is under scrutiny after it deliberately abandoned a couple to face a traumatising home birth alone despite receiving desperate calls for help. Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has apologised after staff at its award-winning 24-hour Labour Line refused to send the two midwives it had promised because the call operator mistakenly thought the family lived outside the catchment area. William Fugard was forced to deliver his wife Bryony’s baby himself last Sunday while “screaming down the phone” for help, in what he said was a scene “akin to the middle ages”.

The couple later discovered that a midwife had been dispatched to their house near Tadley, on the Berkshire-Hampshire borer, but had been turned back mid-journey by Labour Line. Set up in 2013, the service was the first in the country to combine 24-hour midwife call-out and helpline services with ambulances services, a template since copied in NHS trusts across England. Mr Fugard, 46, last night called for Hampshire Hospitals to suspend Labour Line until it could be established what went wrong and questioned whether there was a money-saving motive behind the service. He told the Telegraph that from early in the pregnancy, the couple’s third, the trust had appeared “very keen” for he and his wife, 38, to consider having a home birth.

“It was seriously traumatic – I can’t stress what a hell it was,” he said.
“We were cut loose.
“They could hear down the phone what was happening but they didn’t have sufficient humanity to send someone.
“If anything had gone wrong we wouldn’t have had any idea what to do.
“We were just left sitting on the bed holding his grey, seemingly lifeless baby for an hour before an ambulance turned up.”


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/28/mother-forced-to-have-home-birth-without-midwife-care/

Women have been giving birth since how long? I think our problem is we've lost touch with nature and ourselves, and the expectation that a midwife or doctor must be present at the birth is just expected, whereas years ago a woman pretty much gave birth alone if she had to. So, when an emergency like this crops up, people like this are left out on a limb and potentially, the child's life might be at risk. Why didn't he drive his wife to hospital?

So he had to bring his child into the world? So what? He should regard that as an experience of love and joy, not horror and disgust.

HoratioTarr wrote:

Paul Ettinger wrote:A flagship midwife call-out service is under scrutiny after it deliberately abandoned a couple to face a traumatising home birth alone despite receiving desperate calls for help. Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has apologised after staff at its award-winning 24-hour Labour Line refused to send the two midwives it had promised because the call operator mistakenly thought the family lived outside the catchment area. William Fugard was forced to deliver his wife Bryony’s baby himself last Sunday while “screaming down the phone” for help, in what he said was a scene “akin to the middle ages”.

The couple later discovered that a midwife had been dispatched to their house near Tadley, on the Berkshire-Hampshire borer, but had been turned back mid-journey by Labour Line. Set up in 2013, the service was the first in the country to combine 24-hour midwife call-out and helpline services with ambulances services, a template since copied in NHS trusts across England. Mr Fugard, 46, last night called for Hampshire Hospitals to suspend Labour Line until it could be established what went wrong and questioned whether there was a money-saving motive behind the service. He told the Telegraph that from early in the pregnancy, the couple’s third, the trust had appeared “very keen” for he and his wife, 38, to consider having a home birth.

“It was seriously traumatic – I can’t stress what a hell it was,” he said.
“We were cut loose.
“They could hear down the phone what was happening but they didn’t have sufficient humanity to send someone.
“If anything had gone wrong we wouldn’t have had any idea what to do.
“We were just left sitting on the bed holding his grey, seemingly lifeless baby for an hour before an ambulance turned up.”


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/28/mother-forced-to-have-home-birth-without-midwife-care/

Women have been giving birth since how long?    I think our problem is we've lost touch with nature and ourselves, and the expectation that a midwife or doctor must be present at the birth is just expected, whereas years ago a woman pretty much gave birth alone if she had to.   So, when an emergency like this crops up, people like this are left out on a limb and potentially, the child's life might be at risk.  Why didn't he drive his wife to hospital?  

So he had to bring his child into the world?  So what?  He should regard that as an experience of love and joy, not horror and disgust.

I agree on that aspect as my father helped deliver one of my brothers who was born at home and said the midwife was useless.
However, they have a right to complain as there is meant to be someone there

It's a long time since women in this country routinely gave birth without assistance. I imagine he didn't drive his wife to hospital because they thought the widwife was on her way. Then after a while it would have been impossible to go to hospital. They were told to expect a service, they should have got it.

Giving birth can be a very stressful time for some women.
I'd complain like hell if that were me

What do you expect when every forun Tom, 'Dick' and Abdul from all over the world are impregnating females at a rate of knots, breeding like rabbits thus taking that which we have, are paying for and is rightfully ours, IT WILL GET WORSE AND AFFECT YOU SOON IF IT HAS NOT ALREADY.

Some on here are responsible for the depravation of our OWN folk.