One to one midwives pregnancy advice centres
One To One Midwives is an independent midwifery company founded by Joanne Parkington, a midwife in Birkenhead. The company is officially named One to One (North West) Ltd.
Contents
The company signed a contract to provide midwifery services with NHS Wirral in November 2011. The company provides a single midwife to see women through antenatal care, birth and postnatal care. Midwives working for the company are allowed to go into NHS hospitals to act as advocates of support if the woman chooses a hospital birth. One to One Midwives have a 33% home birth rate, compared to the National average of 2%. They have a stated aim to ensure continuity of care. Expectant mothers felt safer giving birth during the 1950s because they had one midwife looking after them throughout their pregnancy, according to Heidi Thomas, writer of hit television show Call The Midwife.
One to One Midwives are currently available across Essex and the Northwest of England under Any Qualified Provider rules.
One to one midwives video diaries
Controversy
In October 2014, after the death of two babies, it was reported that NHS England had launched an investigation led by Trafford Clinical Commissioning Group. Andrew Gwynne MP, from Labour’s shadow health team, said it was vital that the results were made public. He said that private providers are not subject to Freedom of Information laws. “If they are providing a public service, with public funds, for the benefit of the public, they should not be outside of scrutiny". The company claims that the report by the Manchester Evening News was misleading. The babies were born in hospital and died of natural causes, one at a few days old and one at a few weeks. The review performed by the Greater Manchester Clinical Commissioning Groups was not an investigation into the deaths but a quality review on the service that they provide. They say the article is a direct result of their challenging the “status quo” in relation to maternity services.
One to One Midwives responded to the article drafted by the Manchester Evening News, quoting: "In order to reassure those of you that may be receiving care from One to One I would like to correct a number of inaccuracies in the article.
Both of the babies died of natural causes, one baby died at a few days old and one baby died at a few weeks. Both of the babies were born in hospital and there were no concerns raised about the care the mothers or babies had received from One to One. Following on from the sad events both families continued to receive care and support from their One to One midwives."
The full response can be viewed here: http://www.onetoonemidwives.org/_news/response-to-manchester-evening-news-article. One to One Midwives are currently waiting for a full retraction from all newspapers involved.
The CQC Inspection reports for One to One (North West) Ltd can be found under "Bidston and St James Children's Centre". The CQC have not formally rated One to One (North West) Ltd because they are solely a community midwifery provider. Most NHS maternity care providers will be formally rated by the CQC because they provide community and hospital based services.