International Day of the Midwife is marked today (5
May). This year’s theme is ‘Midwives for a Better Tomorrow,’ yet a look back
into the WI archives reveals that WI members have long known that midwifery
professionals are at the heart of quality care for women and families.
The NFWI has been campaigning on maternal health
issues and improvements in health care from as early as 1925. In 1938 members’
efforts turned to addressing pain relief in labour, when a resolution urging
“the new methods of analgesia [to be] made available for all countrywomen in
childbirth” was passed.
Midwives, who usually attended poorer, rural women,
were often not trained in administering the drugs. Most women could not afford
a private obstetrician or were understandably afraid to use them. Pain relief
during labour was the preserve of the wealthy, the urban, and the educated - a
fact that the WI found unacceptable.
The resolution brought nationwide attention to the
issue and was discussed in Parliament, with Fulham MP, Dr. Edith Summerskill
proposing an inquiry to investigate how to better train midwives in providing
the drugs.
The decades that followed saw the NFWI and its allies
successfully build both public and professional understanding about analgesia.
Following WWII, the NFWI partnered with the National Birthday Trust Fund and
began campaigning for all midwives to be given training in providing
analgesics. That campaign was successful and, as of January 1st 1948, new midwifery students began to undergo analgesics training.
After the Analgesia in Childbirth Bill (1949) – backed
by the NFWI in an attempt to enshrine into law the right for women to
pain-relief during childbirth – failed to pass, the NFWI kept up the momentum
with a survey of members on the use of air and gas during labour to find out
how to best serve them and empower women to speak up and make choices during
childbirth.
With the results revealing that the reasons women did
not opt for analgesics were because “some did not find analgesia effective”,
some were “ignorant” of the benefits, and others “apprehensive” the NFWI set
out to spread the word that if administered properly analgesics were safe and
effective. WIs wrote articles, had talks, and hosted tents at County Fairs
where they provided practical demonstrations on how to administer and receive
the drugs, which proved extremely popular. A special section in the WI tent at
the Herefordshire county show in the early 1950s was dedicated to gas and air,
with a country midwife on duty demonstrating how the sets worked. In February 1953 Home and Country magazine reported “This excellent idea brought
forward gas and air apparatus to the notice of many people who would not have
otherwise heard of it.” Other WIs were encouraged to help midwives have a gas
and air set on view in Infant Welfare Centres for mothers to see them, or even
to train up local women to help midwives use the machines.
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| Midwife administering analgesia |
The WI campaign for analgesia is just one example of
how the WI has worked to support midwives and ensure women are empowered in
their healthcare decisions. From the campaign for more midwives (2012), to
decrease maternal mortality (1925), for free family planning (1972), and
screenings for breast cancer (1975), the WI has always sought to improve
women’s health and educate members so they can make informed decisions for
themselves and their families.
To celebrate both our centenary and the International Day of the Midwife (5 May), we have released our report on the maternity experiences of WI members over the last 50 years. Watch some highlights from the report here:
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