Greens back Royal College of Midwives’ manifesto

29 April 2010

Caroline Lucas has today pledged her party's support for the Royal College of Midwives Manifesto (1). 

The manifesto asks parliamentary candidates to pledge their support for a range of measures, should they be elected on 6 May, including:

 

• Protect frontline NHS and improve the quality of care given. Babies and their mothers should not suffer because of the recession. 
• Eliminate inequality at the start of life. Stark inequalities remain in the rates of ill-health and death between babies and mothers of different social groups.
• Reward public services by paying midwives a fair wage that reflects the vital work they do.
• Promote midwife-led care, which cuts the incidence of unnecessary medical intervention. This is a more efficient and productive use of resources.
• Invest in midwifery education and supporting student midwives through their education to recruit thousands more midwives to the NHS.
• Provide better post-natal care in the weeks following the birth.
• Meet the challenge of obesity. It is one of the biggest problems facing the NHS, and women identified as having an obesity problem face additional risks during pregnancy and childbirth.

 

"We should not have a two-tier service. We should have an excellent standard of service for all mothers"

Caroline Lucas, the Green Party leader who is widely tipped to win the Brighton Pavilion seat on 6 May (2), commented:

"I'm delighted to be putting my support behind the Royal College of Midwives. The Green Party has long called for an improvement to maternity services, and as an MP I would want to ensure that a full range of options, including home birth and a range of styles of hospital delivery, is made available to all women.

"In my constituency of Brighton Pavilion recently, I heard the story of one local woman who was denied a midwife at her home birth, and who ended up giving birth without support - thankfully, to a healthy baby.

"I believe that all women should be entitled to the care of a single midwife through pre-natal care, birth and the first month of post-natal care, in line with the model of care currently provided by independent midwives. We should not have a two-tier service, we should have an excellent standard of service for all mothers.

"The Green Party believes we should work to reduce the number of interventions in childbirth, and ensure an NHS which empowers mothers to take control."

As well as its commitment to improving Britain's health services, the Green Party campaigns against NHS privatisation.


Notes

1. For more information on the RCM Manifesto please see: http://www.rcm.org.uk/college/campaigns-and-policy/election2010/

2. Recent polls from YouGov (October 2009) and ICM (December 2009) suggested a Green Party win in Brighton Pavilion. Bookmakers Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and William Hill, as well as leading UK online betting site Betfair, all have Caroline Lucas as favourite to win the Brighton Pavilion election.