Cardiff midwife Carmen Rubio spots the nalgas!
This week, we’ve been doing our breech thing in Wales. First Powys, at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells, and then on to Aberystwyth to deliver our RCM-approved Physiological Breech Birth study day. I had some help to deliver the training in Powys from a new member of the Breech Birth Network team: Emma Spillane, Lead Midwife for the Carmen Suite Birth Centre of St. George’s, London. Emma brings both breech and NHS leadership experience to the team and is a fantastic skills educator. Welcome, Emma!
Emma Spillane, Shawn Walker & Shelly Jones at the Royal Welsh Showground (early in the morning …)
Midwifery in Wales is a different kettle of fish to much of the rest of the UK. Powys has no obstetric unit, and care is entirely midwifery-led for women at low and moderate risk. Births take place at home or at a midwifery-led unit, unless the women travel to an obstetric centre out of choice or by referral. Improving skills to facilitate undiagnosed breech births, in settings where the transfer time may be well over an hour, was the priority for these midwives. The focus of our training is on using physiological principles (#giveitawiggle). But we also explored the potential for collaborative working across boundaries to provide continuity for women requesting a breech birth. Thank you to Lead Midwife Shelly Jones of the Powys Teaching Health Board for organising the day!
Dr Liliana Docan giving instruction on manoeuvres
Aberystwyth is an obstetric unit, but at 600 births per year also maintains close ties with larger units nearby, especially Carmarthen. The guidelines around breech and ECV are currently being reviewed in this area, and the hope is that future guidelines will include more recent evidence around 1) support for informed choice of breech birth; 2) use of upright birthing positions; and 3) increased involvement of midwives in both physiological breech and ECV practice. A visible care pathway is needed in this sparsely populated area, where providing the full spectrum of care relies on close collaborative working between smaller and larger units. Thank you to Senior Midwife Rucha Eldridge of Bronglais Hospital/Ysbyty Bronglais for organising the study day! And thank you to Aber obstetrician Liliana Docan and clinical skills educator Nicole Gajlikowska for your enthusiasm and help with hands-on practice of upright manoeuvres.
Given the level of interest and the number of attendees from different areas of Wales and the English border, we expect Breech Birth Network will be returning soon. If you have breech experience and would like to become involved in teaching and leading change for breech within Wales, we would love to hear from you! We can lend our experience and fully evaluated course materials to your efforts. You can contact us using the form below.
Shawn
Aberystwyth
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