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30 Educators providing Cascade courses delivered Online

Expectancy - complementary therapy courses for midwives

expectancy - complementary therapy courses for midwives

Derbyshire

Yet again, mainstream media has sensationalised what they perceive as “witchcraft” – the use of “alternative” therapies by midwives. The Sunday Times has now waded into the melee, castigating midwives’ use of aromatherapy, acupuncture, reflexology and “burning herbs to turn a breech baby” (moxibustion). The article by Health Editor Shaun Lintern also denigrates practices which are not classified as complementary therapies, such as water injections for pain relief, hypnobirthing for birth preparation and counselling sessions following traumatic birth. Some of the accusations focus on their (inaccurate) statement about the lack of complementary therapy research, whilst others deplore trusts charging for some of these services. A letter to the Chief Executive of the NHS has been sent by a group of families whose babies have died in maternity units that have now come under scrutiny from the Care Quality Commission and the Ockenden team. Amongst those spearheading this group is a consultant physician whose baby died during birth (unrelated to complementary therapies) and who has taken it on himself to challenge the NHS on all matters pertaining to safety in maternity care. That is admirable – safety is paramount – but it is obvious neither he, nor the author of this latest article, knows anything at all about the vast subject of complementary therapies in pregnancy and birth. The article is padded out with (incorrect) statistics about midwives’ use of complementary therapies, coupled with several pleas for the NHS to ban care that they say (incorrectly) is not evidence-based and which contravene NICE guidelines (the relevant word here being guidelines, not directives). The article is biased and, to my knowledge, no authority on the subject has been consulted to provide a balanced view (the Royal College of Midwives offered a generic response but did not consult me, despite being appointed a Fellow of the RCM specifically for my 40 years’ expertise in this subject). I would be the first to emphasise that complementary therapies must be safe and, where possible, evidence-based, and I am well aware that there have been situations where midwives have overstepped the boundaries of safety in respect of therapies such as aromatherapy. However, I have not spent almost my entire career educating midwives (not just providing skills training) and emphasising that complementary therapy use must be based on a comprehensive theoretical understanding, to have it snatched away because of a few ill-informed campaigners intent on medicalising pregnancy and birth even further than it is already. For well-respected broadsheets to publish such inaccurate and biased sensationalism only serves to highlight the problems of the British media and the ways in which it influences public opinion with untruths and poorly informed reporting.

Trauma Resus

trauma resus

5.0(2)

Warrington

Trauma Resus is leading the way in providing advanced first aid training and clinical governance. With more than 15 years’ experience in multiple industries, we are the UK’s most trusted experts. We were founded in 2005 by a group of healthcare professionals, and their deep experience and understanding of pre-hospital and in-hospital care sits at the heart of all we do. Led by our medical experts, we deliver training within robust clinical governance structures to transform patient care, improve patient outcomes and to save lives. We provide high quality training delivered by instructors with experience of facing real life emergencies, over a number of years. Their backgrounds include working as doctors, nurses or paramedics in the NHS, serving in the armed forces, or working as firefighters or police officers. We are trusted experts to a range of industries who require the most advanced standards of first aid training, equipment, and clinical governance. Trauma Resus is the number one provider of these services to the UK’s Fire and Rescue Services and Airport Fire Services. We can also deliver the First Aid Learning Programme (FALP) to UK Police Forces, with inhouse expertise from experienced police officers alongside pre-hospital care specialists. Our European Remote Immediate Emergency Care Advanced (EURIECA™) course is accredited by the Global Wind Organisation (GWO) as compliant with its GWO Enhanced First Aid (EFA) criteria. This training goes above and beyond the EFA requirements. Our public training courses at Trauma Resus head office cover most aspects of advanced first aid and are updated annually to ensure they reflect current practices and recommendations.