ABSTRACT
Institutional and political decisions will continue to be made that will have adverse consequences for the care of pregnant women and new mothers and which will adversely affect the working climate and lives of midwives. These institutional decisions are too intimately tied to crisis-ridden governments that are riven with competing blocs of power and privilege not to succumb to 'crisis-management frenzy'. The muteness of the institutional, regulatory and governmental superstructure has been deafening. The ensuing chaos and turmoil have for far too long passed unremarked by the agencies who are supposed to have responsibility for the maternity services. The maternity services have been shown to fall seriously short in providing the care to which women are entitled. This shortfall in no way reflects midwives' personal limitations. One example comes from the horrendous Mid Staffordshire Hospital scandal, leading to the deaths from poor care of an estimated 400 to 1,200 patients between 2005 and 2009.
