I would like to share the following story with the network and invite comments. I was told the story in an email this week.
It is from a midwife who attends a lot of home birth.
She, together with some colleagues often knit while attending a home birth labour and the Head of Midwifery heard about it. The midwives then received a phone call asking them to attend a meeting with the Head of Midwifery and Human Resources.
At the meeting, the Head of Midwifery said that she had never heard of the practice of knitting during labour and, while she was prepared to look at the information from books and article about the purpose behind it, in her opinion, if they were knitting, they could not be providing professional care. The midwives subsequently received a letter saying that, after consulting with fellow Heads of Midwifery, Local Supervising Authority officers and Professional and Regulatory Bodies, they were to stop the practice of knitting at births. The reason for this was that, in the event of an adverse outcome, the Regulatory body would not support them if it were to come to light that they had been knitting during the labour.
Best wishes,
Denis
Dr Denis Walsh
Associate Professor in Midwifery
Academic Division of Midwifery
University of Nottingham
East Block
Queens Medical Centre
Derby Rd
Nottingham NG7 2UH
United Kingdom
Tel: +44(0)115 8230987
Mobile: 07905735777
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