Wigan midwife goes her own way after leaving NHS to launch independent service

Sarah Fitzsimmons, from Shevington, used to work as the manager of a midwifery-led unit at Warrington Hospital, but saw a rising number of labour inductions and increased risk of complications.

So she decided to team up with colleague Jenny Johnson to launch a business as independent midwives.

While it would not have been possible to get insurance in the past, a new firm named Zest had been established which covered the women and their new business.

My Independent Midwife was launched last year to provide personalised care packages for families, which they hoped would improve outcomes.

Sarah, 36, said: “We are employed by a client to provide all the antenatal care, through birth and postnatally. We are completely able to take over all the elements of midwifery care and liaise with hospitals or obstetrics teams if anything comes up which needs extra support.”

The pair have clients in Wigan but also travel further afield to see pregnant women and support them.

Many different people choose an independent midwife, including women who have given birth previously and first-time mums.

Sarah feels staffing problems in maternity services and scandals such as the investigation into care for mothers and babies at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust have led to people selecting this alternative route.

She said: “One side is families that have already had traumatic experiences, such as feeling let down by the experience and wanting something different and a personalised service and to know who will support them.

"The other side is first-time mums who are seeing and hearing what’s happening in maternity services and deciding from the beginning that it isn’t for them.

"I was an independent midwife 15 years ago, from when I first qualified, for a couple of years. Back then it was almost just previous traumatic experiences, but this time round, about half of our clients are first-time mums who are choosing to work towards that really positive experience.”

In the last year, Sarah and Jenny have had 12 births – seven boys and five girls – none of which were induced. Ten of the births were at home and two were breech, which would normally lead to a Caesarean section but did not in these instances.

Ten of the births were in birthing pools and the longest labour lasted three-and-a-half hours, while the shortest took just 30 minutes. Five of the women were first-time mums.

The pair use hypnobirthing techniques, aromatherapy and the basics of midwifery care to support the women.

They have also seen all of the mums still breastfeeding their babies when discharged at four weeks and none of the families showed signs of depression or trauma.

Jenny and Sarah are delighted with the initial success of their business and are now looking to the future, as they have eight more babies due to be delivered over the next four months.