Brilliant news! Alison’s work at IHV has been hugely significant, bringing attention to the pressures on HVs and the challenges they face in providing much-needed & valuable services to families.

Good news that this very basic data is now available; bad news is for how long it hasn’t been examined & action taken. Look forward also to attention paid to mothers not in hospital but seriously ill elsewhere: struggling HVs & GPs will not find them all.

www.gov.uk/government/p... Quite a few sensible & positive aspects here. But have I missed something about one of the government’s key aims for improving NHS, i.e. shift hospital to community? This could be highly pertinent to care on the maternity journey.

A valuable summary of the situation restricting midwifery practice in many countries, consequently also limiting quality & quantity of appropriately skilled care that women crucially need in pregnancy, birth & postnatal. Parents/families should demand the legislation to enable the care they want.

Two days, two herons; am I being storked? Lol.

#midwives look here to what @roylilley1.bsky.social says the NHS plan should do about maternity services... myemail.constantcontact.com/Research.htm... Lets hope those in the Dept of Health and @rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social take notice

revolution.postnatalsupportnetwork.com/postpartum-c... Regarding the planned NHS maternity inquiry, may I respectfully draw attention to this international call for better postnatal care? Please read, any who are involved @rcm.org.uk @nctcharity.bsky.social @birthcompanions.bsky.social

Yes, postnatal care and the 12 months after birth are repeatedly overlooked.

Agree 100%. It’s a bitter irony that numerical disparities in maternal mortality have recently reduced, only since more white women with higher incomes now die. Once again: look at the postnatal deaths. Authorities pass the buck on this from NHS to HVs to GPs: the Inquiry must solve this problem.

Some in the NHS say midwifery postnatal care for 10 days after birth is all that’s needed: not true. ‘Better Births’ policy pledged care for 6 weeks minimum. But a crucial move will be to co-ordinate care from NHS, health visitors & GPs so no sick & desperate mother falls through the lethal gaps.

Very pleased to see a copy of my friend Chris Rose’s co-authored book Perceptual Engineering, published this year. He highlights use of all the senses, sometimes in unexpected ways - eg dogs who can detect cancer through smell - and urges wider thinking about how we can improve our own perceptions.

Might be a good idea to extend Covid vaccines to those of childbearing age.

🌍🎈 Today is the International Day of Play, a reminder that play is a right. 🎒In a world of targets & tests, #PlayMatters more than ever. It nurtures creativity, confidence & connection. It is how children learn. 🔗 early-years-reviews.com/play-matters #InternationalDayOfPlay

@birthcompanions.bsky.social @rcm.org.uk @nctcharity.bsky.social

Good to see today's @commonswec.parliament.uk report on parental leave highlighting the poor level of #maternity & parental pay & calling for phased investment to improve it bit.ly/3Thd2tX

Investing more in maternity pay is vital to the government's missions AND affordable: our message to the Chancellor as the spending review nears: bit.ly/4kvjgT6

Enjoying the picturesque town of Kirkcudbright today. Lovely people there - it’s just nonsense to say the Scots are always in search of a bargain.

New results on this key issue. Nothing here tells parents what to decide about mode of birth but it does add to their knowledge base @nctcharity.bsky.social www.sanger.ac.uk/news_item/ba...

Pleased to see this initiative from @camdencouncil.bsky.social to help expectant parents. As said in report, the contact will also put parents in touch with other sources of support, while helping pay bills, clear debt, buy baby essentials, etc. @maternityaction.bsky.social @nctcharity.bsky.social

Important & well-grounded points made here. ALL new mothers are made poorer at a time they will clearly need to spend more on energy, equipment & other bills. Many consequently suffer worse postnatal health: no coincidence that maternal deaths in 1st year after a birth are predominantly suicides.

This animation shows how temperatures have changed over the last 100 years for each February-April period. On each map, red shading indicates warmer than average conditions, and blue shading shows the opposite. Note the trend. Data from NOAAGlobalTemp v6.0.0 (www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/lan...).

Great to have worked with @mattbrownwrites.bsky.social of @yourmoneyuk.bsky.social on this piece about our new report on #maternity pay www.yourmoney.com/household-bi... #endpregnancypoverty

Moments from an excellent tree-identification walk in Highgate Wood this morning: the elegance of hornbeams; the pleasing palmate shape of chestnut leaves; the tales told by all the interweaving cracks & lines on a fallen oak.

After enjoying a visit to the Affordable Art Fair on Hampstead Heath, an equally enjoyable walk home offered some totally affordable art from nature. Have a great weekend!

Looking forward to being at this today

It’s an extraordinary & moving event, mixing research evidence, lived experience in drama form & panel discussion among expert & informed people. Clear & doable policy asks are in the report: just do it @yvettecooper-mp.bsky.social

The work we do to empower pregnant mums & new mothers about their rights to work & maternity pay is vital to reducing their stress & improving well-being. That's why we're proud to support @mmhalliance.bsky.social & #maternalmentalhealthawarenessweek

🎥 Watch Anna af Ugglas, ICM Chief Executive, wish a heartfelt #IDM2025 to midwives worldwide, honouring their care in every crisis. 💜 Happy International Day of the Midwife!

We’re back TOMORROW! Join #MidwiferyHour Series 16, Ep1 as we explore how midwives can make genomic testing conversations clear & supportive. 🗓 30 April | 🕖 19:00 UK | 🎧 Spotify Register free: shorturl.at/fcts1 #GenomicTesting #MATFLIX

It was brilliant to champion disabled women in Parliament today with @marietidball.bsky.social working to secure safe, high-quality, inclusive maternity care. Disabled mothers must be central to improving care, and I’m so pleased to be involved in this campaign with so many other incredible women.

Preparing resource packs for the @rcm.org.uk conference #preterm workshops in Birmingham next week. Do come along and find out “What #midwives need to know about preterm birth”.

The River Tywi, running through Rhandirmwyn, is Wales’s longest river and its banksides are beautiful: starred with stitchwort; placid in its present mood; swathed with sheep; dramatic as dark falls.

Are you part of the 'silent majority' who wants faster action on dealing with the impact of our #ClimateCrisis? www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The future of women’s health needs diverse voices. @FIGOHQ is offering a bursary for midwives, trainees, and students with accepted or pending abstracts. If you haven’t already, submit a late-breaking abstract by 16 April and apply for a #FIGO2025 bursary: zurl.co/UJnZb

Awesome @neunion.bsky.social campaign for occupational #maternity pay at Dunraven Education Trust schools, south London. Did you know only 13% of women have access to occupational #maternity pay beyond the statutory minimum? #EndPregnancyPoverty bit.ly/42lNBf3

Travel to Oxford for an highly enjoyable lunch at @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social with Professor Debra Bick & Dr Judy Shakespeare allowed time for a nostalgic stroll round the sunny city & its waterways. The apple (found exactly so) looks a bit like Turing’s and may have strayed from Cambridge.

Wonderful to listen to, and be in, a group of fascinating women.

Privileged to be in House of Lords this evening to hear legendary social scientist Ann Oakley on a new phase of her 1970s work ‘From here to maternity’ with Charlotte Faircloth, Kate Brintworth @greenjennyjones.bsky.social @alexbollen.bsky.social @marynewburn.bsky.social @drjennyhall-5.bsky.social

I was delightfully entertained to lunch today by friends at @rcm.org.uk when we indulged in a nostalgic look at old copies of the journal, where I worked 1988-1997. Thanks so much @gillwalton.bsky.social @stuartbonar.com @birtelam.bsky.social & Clare & Abbie: a lovely gathering!

Reminiscent of the occasion (1980s?) police burst into a meeting of the Association of Radical Midwives (ARM) claiming they thought it was members of Animal Rights Movement conspiring to plan protest actions.

Highgate was looking blossomy & flowery in spring sunshine today. Pic #3 has a beautifully planted garden bank with daffodils, narcissi, wood anemones, snakeshead fritillaries & if you can ID others please say!

Banning births at Edgware Birth Centre is the end of an era. I remember the beginning. This paper www.academia.edu/68786023/Bir... credits some of the key people: Elizabeth Manero, Linda Turner, Jane Walker, Olive Jones, Jean Chapple et al - any on this platform? www.england.nhs.uk/london/2025/...

‘Pregnancy & birth can be a challenging experience, but for disabled women the barriers are far greater, a new report says’. @marietidball.bsky.social talks to Kylie Pentelow at BBC woman’s hour (from around 10.30) @rcm.org.uk

-> Scoop: The Independent State of Papua New Guinea is to open a newsagent. It will have sidelines and be crunchy. The Independent State of Papal New Gibbons was founded in 1786 as a cheese sandwich under the tutelage of Oscar van Bureen, the deep seed diver. Thank-you for using Gemini AI 👍/👎?