A Bradford consultant midwife and her team have won one of the UK’s top midwifery prizes at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Annual Awards, the UK’s most prestigious midwifery awards, held in London on 19th January, 2010. Consultant midwife Alison Brown, and Deborah Hughes, a community midwife, both of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, have scooped the Bounty Award for Promoting Normal Birth, sponsored by Bounty Parenting Club.

The award was given for the “Bradford Homebirth Workshops,” which delivered workshops about home birth to boost the region’s low home birth rate of 0.5%; nationally the homebirth rate is 3%. As a result of the project, by September 2010, their homebirth rate had risen to 2%. A collaborative effort, the workshops involved midwives, and parents who chose homebirth and were held in community settings and promoted normal and natural childbirth. The awards were held at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London. Attending the ceremony was RCM General Secretary Cathy Warwick and the celebrity and broadcaster Natasha Kaplinsky.

Alison Brown said: “Winning the Bounty Award for promoting Normal Birth is a great honour for our service. In Bradford, we like to think of new and innovative ways to engage with women and their partners and these workshops have proved a real hit.”

Cathy Warwick, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “This award highlights the important, innovative and pioneering work being done by a Foundation Trust to increase normal birth and home birth rates, and I congratulate the Trust and its staff for embracing this project. It is important for people to know that Trusts are constantly striving for excellence and looking for new ways to improve homebirth rates.  When midwives are given the resources, support and the freedom to develop their research and work, the result is better services, better care and better health outcomes for mother, babies and their families.”

The home birth sessions involved discussions about the practical aspects of home births and provided prospective mums, dads, partners, and birth supporters with all the information and advice that they would need about home birth.

Alison Brown added: “ Whether it’s your first child or you’ve given birth before, exploring your options and learning about the birth process helps build confidence and prepares mums for their impending baby’s birth.”

“We spend time in the sessions discussing coping strategies for labour and birth at home, including the use of water, and the ways in which midwives can work in partnership with mothers to help them achieve the births they hope.”