12 August 2024
Leeds Homebirth

Open letter to the Board of Trustees Leeds NHS Trust,

We, the undersigned, are a group of concerned patients, parents, service users, peer supporters, and birth professionals.

We are writing to highlight the worrying trends revealed by the most recent home birth statistics.

Service suspension has always ranked highly amongst the fears raised by attendees at the Leeds Homebirth Support Group, but historically we were able to allay people’s fears and state that statistically such events were rare. This is clearly no longer the case, with the number of birth plans changed due to suspension of service regularly overtaking the number of births achieved at home in the last two years.

A change in plan at such a late stage, and at such a pivotal moment in a family’s life is unduly stressful and can lead to a variety of adverse outcomes.

Given that for uncomplicated pregnancies home birth is widely recognised as being as safe or safer than hospital birth for both mothers and infants can you please explain why this service is withheld at times of service acuity, forcing women and babies into an environment that is associated with higher rates of intervention and no improvement in safety outcomes.

In solidarity with the midwives who are clearly doing their very best under incredibly difficult operational pressures, we urge you to immediately restore the staffing of this service to adequate levels to ensure that we no longer have to see more families turned away in labour than achieve a birth at home.

155
signatures
129 verified
  1. Ruth Howdill, Leeds Homebirth Support Group, Leeds
  2. Emma Lyons, Mother to be, Leeds
  3. Cat Jackson, Project manager, Leeds
  4. Charlotte Butterworth, Doula, The Smart Doula, Leeds
  5. Laura Linklater, Homebirth mother, Otley
  6. Claire Pottage, Concerned parent and previous service user, Leeds
  7. Louise Chappell, Mother, Leeds
  8. Mercedes Somers, Education inclusion mentor, Leeds
  9. Alessandra Confessore, Leeds
  10. Viviana Clulwy, Expecting Mother, Leeds
  11. Kathryn Matthews, Mother and Doula, Leeds
  12. Kelly-Amber Lyons, Nurse, Leeds
  13. Rose Fawcett-Hodge, Student midwife, Shipley
  14. Sian Crowther, Office assistant, Morley
  15. Ana Raposo, Full-time mum, Harrogate
  16. Sarah Flower, Midwife, Bradford
  17. Melanie Dunne, Doula, Leeds homebirth support group, Leeds
  18. Izzy Brittain, Mother to be, Leeds
  19. Karen McEwen, Former Midwife on Leeds HB team, Harrogate
  20. Helen Vasey, Health visitor, Leeds
...
89 more
verified signatures
  1. Eleanor Statham, Quantity Surveyor, N/a, Burley in Wharfedale
  2. Hannah Bentham, Scientist and homebirth mother, Leeds
  3. Kirstie Forrester, Multi-systemic Therapist, Leeds
  4. Laura Willshaw, Carer, None, Leeds
  5. Jennifer Faulkner, Bank Analyst, Leeds
  6. Stacey Nevet, Leeds
  7. Kelly Taylor, Home, Leeds
  8. Kelly Gaughan, Leeds
  9. Marie Gaughan, Grimsby
  10. Amy Foxton, Teacher, Leeds
  11. Zoe Field, Debt Advisor, Leeds
  12. Lydia Ulrich, Nurse, NHS, Leeds
  13. Samantha Havis, Former NCT tutor and 3xhomebirther, Leeds
  14. chloe allen, leeds
  15. Tim Knighton, Leeds
  16. Rae Malenoir, Previous user of Leeds Home Birth Service, Spital
  17. Jenny Booth, Architect, Home birth mother, Otley
  18. Jess Dewhurst, Public Health Officer, Leeds
  19. Teresa Newsome, Home educator, Leeds
  20. Heather Williams, Leeds
Create an open letter
and sign it together