Sue Haddon
@sue_haddon
Tweets about UK infant feeding policy and its harms; maternity safety; occasionally: local history, maternity history, writing. Staying right here!
Pleased this was published 👇. It seems we need to keep reminding the authorities that in NHS hospitals, women take responsibility for care of their newborn(s) after: c-section obstetric haemorrhage injury birth of twins/multiples Extreme sleep deprivation !!! #bringbacknurseries
Our letter to the Times on postnatal care. @sue_haddon @drruthannharpur #bringbacknurseries thetimes.com/article/caf3ee…
I disagree ... Yes ... mental health care is vital But mindfulness? Mindfulness covers an array of interventions. It's a component of some psychotherapies (eg DBT) but this isn't terroritory midwives should be stepping into
Yes 👏👏 I had similar thoughts. When clinicians will laugh in the face of a mum begging for help (happened to me), and do all sorts of other sick and negligent things, why is this so hard to believe?
On the Fesshole post. In East Kent, some midwives who were not part of a favoured in-group were sometimes assigned to the highest-risk mothers & challenged to achieve delivery with no intervention. So some keeping a degrading chart on women doesn't seem implausible to me.
And this is why informed consent (or not) for possible instrumental delivery needs to be given prior to labour. If a cs is preferred over an instrumental delivery at full dilation then maybe it would be wise to recommend a planned cs? Trying to get informed consent in an…
Someone who expressed a wish for no forceps antenatally should have been counselled about caesarean at full dilation & planned caesarean *during antenatal care*. But normal birth policies preferred keeping women in ignorance & push for vaginal delivery. dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…
Somehow they never mention this in the wiffle waffle about breastfeeding, bonding and "skin to skin" (aka contrived, prescribed naked cuddling in a not so safe position)
What percentage of the time are the mothers of securely attached babies attuned to them Guess - I will answer later with the real answer and actual research
What percentage of the time are the mothers of securely attached babies attuned to them Guess - I will answer later with the real answer and actual research
Could we record what is said in the central CTG monitoring room? Like with black boxes in cockpits? @wesstreeting @PutneyFleur
Baby died 'after midwives dismissed concerns' bbc.in/4kJZBOv
Are bad apples the problem in NHS maternity care? Nope - and how the psychology of evil can give us a vital perspective here. At first glance it looks like there are lots of bad apples doesn't it: 🍎Midwives offering smelly oils while women show clear signs of deterioration?…
The bad apples give the orchard a bad name, says @wesstreeting about leadership in the NHS #InsightToImpactMatNeo
Awards can fuel bad care. This was highlighted in the inquiry at East Kent hospitals. Here is another example at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, one of the 10 trusts currently investigated by the government. 👉 x.com/catherineroyuk…
It really puts due diligence into question though doesn't it? How accurate are these awards? It's ethically wrong that a dept in crisis would get a good-work sticker they can flaunt when the deeper issues aren't scrutinised. Mums will choose birth at these trusts based on this.
Absolutely no surprise to see that NHS maternity services are using the @HSJnews 'Patient Safety Awards' as a PR opportunity. Really handy to have a 'good news' story when you're under fire for killing and injuring mums and babies. I am disgusted. awards.patientsafetycongress.co.uk/shortlist-2025
Whatever would we do without these busy bodies handwringing about advertising?
Local council decides to "ban" baby formula advertising because it wants to Prevent marketing of "health harming or misleading products" ... does baby milk really fall in this category? They claim formula is "often marketed in such a way that it suggests its benefits outweigh…
Local council decides to "ban" baby formula advertising because it wants to Prevent marketing of "health harming or misleading products" ... does baby milk really fall in this category? They claim formula is "often marketed in such a way that it suggests its benefits outweigh…
🍼 A Labour-led council is set to ban baby formula companies from advertising its products on sites it owns⤵️ telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/1…
TLDR ... no, having a fizzy drink or a slice of non-sourdough bread probably didn't cause your miscarriage or your child's asthma ... the anti-UPF racket would appear to be the latest iteration of mother blaming
Call me old-fashioned - but claiming that UPF intake in pregnancy can double the risk of miscarriage is irresponsible scare-mongering. Worse - has the author considered the impact this has on women who had a miscarriage? Should they be ridiculed in such a way?
When I first heard about Olivia's death, I cried for her & her family but also with rage at the similarities between hers & Abigail's & several other babies' deaths at UHSussex. Lessons not learnt @wesstreeting brightonandhovenews.org/2025/07/12/inq…
It most certainly is what you learnt in antenatal classes 40 years ago. It's bogus. A made-up salad of "techniques" to steer women to eschew pharmaceutical analgesia so "civilised women" could give birth like "primitive women". See Childbirth without fear. Mongan added hypnosis.
More on the circumstances surrounding Liliwen's death. google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.…
“Liliwen died from a hypoxic brain injury following an unattended delivery in hospital”. Mother left alone for one hour. No birth partners (they're not visitors!) allowed at night. google.com/amp/s/www.wale…
Absolutely agree birth plans are not informed consent (often they're antithetical to it). Imho the idea you can meaningfully make informed medical decisions when you're in pain, exhausted from a long labour and facing a life threatening medical emergency is a nonsense. Consent…
I trained for 3 years to be a nurse, I then trained for a further 2 years to become specialised in my field. I’ve just resigned from a career I used to love and be proud of because the NHS killed my baby and its destroyed my life… including career. Please call a public inquiry!
I’m proud that the NHS has always been open to international talent, but the truth is that we’ve become over-reliant - including on countries with severe shortages of healthcare staff. We’ll going to do more to grow our own and retain on talent 👇🏻
Sigh. The over medicalisation of childbirth canard. Stated without one shred of evidence. And some of us think we’re making progress.
There used to be a local access to maternity services. It was called the GP. Someone with a medical background who knew about your health history. Then, gradually, they were cut out of maternity care. Part of de-medicalising childbirth. theguardian.com/society/2025/j…
This was the one where MW said, basically, “you’re so chill, you’ve gone to an internal reality to have this baby and you’re not in the room with us right now, cool” not “you’re delirious because you’ve drunk so much water your sodium level is dangerously low”, right?