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, 2024, Vol 36, No 1 By Elle Gundry The first parliamentary debate on birth trauma took place in the House of Commons on Thursday 19th October 2023. [1] Thank…
AIMS Journal, 2024, Vol 36, No 1 By Anne Glover I work with women from all walks of life, but one thing that is important to them all, is having a positive and satisfying…
AIMS Journal, 2024, Vol 36, No 1 Editor’s note: In this quite shocking account of disrespect and neglect, Grace describes the arrival of her first baby. With Grace’s perm…
Join us for the an interactive online AIMS workshop " Focus on Resolution" with Dr Rebecca Moore . Rebecca who is a Consultant Psychiatrist and founding member of Make Bi…
AIMS is proud to be supporting the RCM's Research Prioritisation project as a Project Partner and with one of our volunteers on the Steering Group www.rcm.org.uk/promotin…
Introduction to AIMS and why AIMS is making a submission Since 1960, AIMS has been the leading advocate for improvements in UK maternity care. We have national and intern…
AIMS Campaigns Team volunteers are presenting a poster about our campaign for Physiology-Informed Maternity Services at the 2023 conference of the British Intrapartum Car…