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STATISTICS
Having a baby is such a special & unique time in your life. It is so important to feel safe, supported & listened too. At Bump to Birth & Beyond, all of our care is underpinned by contemporary research. Our evidence based advice is tailored to you & your family which enables you to make truly informed decisions. Having the same Midwife with you throughout your pregnancy journey, repeatedly shows the best physical & emotional labour & birth outcomes.
Continuity of care is safer, with much less intervention, & a much higher level of spontaneous vaginal birth. Obviously, physical outcomes are important! However, having a positive birth experience, is often not related to how your baby is born. Emotional outcomes & having a positive birth experience are much more often linked to feeling in control & that you had 'The right birth on the day'. All of the decisions were yours & you had all of the information you needed to help you make your fully informed decisions.
ZEST Midwives has now been active for over a year. ZEST enable Independent Midwives like myself, to access appropriate indemnity insurance. They provide our training & support so that we are able to care & support you throughout your journey into parenthood.
In our 1st year as a collective, ZEST registered Midwives have supported birthing people to achieve a 93% spontaneous unassisted vaginal birth rate! 70% of people chose to birth at home, often deciding to stay at home during their labour.
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This is not by magic! It is wholly due to continuity, empowerment & tailored support. Women & birthing people, supported to make informed choices. Empowering them to listen & believe in their own body, just as nature intended!
NHS Maternity Statistics 2022/23
In contrast, NHS Maternity services in the UK, have very limited continuity of care. Women & birthing people are very unlikely to have met the Midwife who cares for them in labour. The NHS have tried to start continuity teams, usually a team approach. Sadly, however, the numbers are just too high to maintain. The women have often not met the Midwife in the team who is looking after them & the Midwives suffer burnout due to the relentless working pattern.
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This data is taken from the most recent Maternity statistics in England. The rate of intervention, such as induction of labour & Caesarean Section is steadily climbing, whilst unassisted vaginal births are in decline.
Unassisted vaginal births in the last 10 years have reduced from 64% to 43%. In contrast induction of labour has increased from 23% to 33% & caesarean rates have also increased from 13% to 23%. For more information have a look at our research page.
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Click the below link to view the original report.
Statistics for our area
Hampshire & the Isle of Wight
Firstly the Isle of Wight...
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A relatively small maternity unit with 915 births in 2022/23. Only 55.7% of birthing people had an unassisted vaginal birth. With nearly 35% of people having a Caesarean birth. 39% of people had their labours started artificially & only 3.3% of people had their baby at home.
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Hampshire Hospitals
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With 4940 births in 2022/23 only half of birthing people had their labour start naturally. A Caesarean birth rate of over 40%! With only half having an unassisted vaginal birth & 1.5% of babies born at home.
Portsmouth Hospitals
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4785 births in Portsmouth & only 43.6% of labours started naturally & 0.73% homebirth rate.
Southampton Hospitals
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4845 births, 0.83% of babies born at home & again very similar numbers. Increasing levels of intervention with normality becoming the abnormal.