What is happening in AIMS
A review of what AIMS has been doing over the last few months.
At Last - An NMC Home Birth Circular
Beverley Beech recounts the long consumer battle to ensure that a woman in labour at home could expect a midwife to attend her when called.
In Brief
Shane Ridley looks at home birth in the press.
Woman with woman - A Doula's story.
Caroline Spear describes her journey to her vocation as a Birth Doula.
Making it Real, Making it Better.
Earlier this year the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts covering Greater Manchester, East Cheshire and High Peak issued a very glossy document inviting comments on their proposals for centralising maternity services under the guise of improving care. AIMS Chair Beverley Beech responds.
Resources - further sources of homebirth support and information
Do you qualify for a hospital birth?
Despite the evidence that a fit and healthy woman giving birth at home is no less safe than those who are delivered in hospital, the staff still persist in giving women who want a home birth a long list of risks and reasons for persuading them into hospital. Laura Abbott, practicing independent midwife, has produced a list that all women wanting a hospital birth should be asked to consider before they agree to the booking.
Aelwyn's Birth Story.
Kerris Casey-St.Pierre shares her three very different birth experiences.
Home water birth against advice
Sarah Ockwell-Smith, mum to three, Classical Homeopath and HypnoBirthing practitioner, describes her home water birth following two emergency hospital births.
Excuses, Excuses.
We asked women to tell us why booking a home birth was challenging, here are some of the reasons given to women...
Allowed a homebirth?
Jo-Anne Berry describes her very quick home births.
Home birth: a new concept?
Shane Ridley reports on the excellent 6th Chichester Home Birth conference in Bristol on 25th March 2006.
Questionable Home Birth Interventions
One of the problems that we face by encouraging more home births is the lack of understanding by many hospital-based midwives of the risk of interventions.
AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 3 By Alex Smith An increasing number of new mothers begin breastfeeding following a long drawn-out process of induction of labour. Currentl…
AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 3 Welcome to the September 2025 issue of the AIMS journal. The theme for this quarter is breastfeeding. An important issue that emerged as…
AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 3 Interview by Catharine Hart Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed by AIMS, Kate. I love that this book doesn't try to sound authoritat…
We understand that you are passionate about tackling health inequity and so are approaching you to seek your perspective. This event - Health OpenSpaces - is an invite on…
Making Birth Better: Bringing together evidence, knowledge and experience The multi-disciplinary UK Conference Committee has planned the content of the conference to be w…
Nine events across the UK and Ireland – all of them free of charge to all practising midwives, academics, allied healthcare professionals and student midwives. The profes…
AIMS has written to Wes Streeting MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to welcome his announcement of a National Maternity Review, offer our support for the…
Introduction There has long been uncertainty over whether there is any benefit to early induction of labour when a baby is suspected to be ‘big’, known as ‘Large for Gest…
AIMS has written to Professor Mary Renfrew to thank her for taking the lead on reviewing maternity services in Northern Ireland. Her report is the first of its kind to ta…