Campaign M- Recovery

Campaign M has been a real labour of love at Lotus Maternity and we’re really proud with how well this campaign has been received.  We cannot thank our audience enough who have either silently cheer-leaded or publicly got behind this series.

We pushed the boundaries, we knew from the off that we were going to be tackling hard-hitting issues that are uncomfortable viewing for most. It is a guerrilla marketing campaign after all, designed to be different but we felt we had to use off-the-wall tactics to get our messages across.

We also needed to poke our audience into feeling awkward around Campaign M.

We thought we might have some hurdles to jump, one of our focus group members was concerned I might get kicked off LinkedIn, or worse still, lose my registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and no longer be able to practice. We got off lightly on that front but we were still censored. On a post discussing all of the complexities and heartache of postnatal depression, a great shame to have been stifled on this, since it affects and impacts more than 1 in 8 women and fathers too (1 in 10).

The crisis in maternity is complex and postnatal issues are highly problematic and multifaceted. The stigma, the fear of judgment, the normalisation/ downplaying of physiological problems from the age old bs of, ‘well, you’ve had a baby, what do you expect?’ Coupled with societal norms which should have been left behind with the Victorian era; our poor acceptance of breastfeeding in the UK, the public outcry around if a woman ‘dares’ to do it in public, coupled with gender role expectations making it almost impossible for women to disclose they might be struggling – it is what women are here to do right? Being ‘mother’ is what she is designed and made for, right? So how come you can’t cope?

If you’ve read the papers you will be aware that we are in a shocking state of affairs in maternity…49% of trusts were rated as ‘poor’ or ‘requiring improvement’ in 2023 by the Quality Care Commission. We are losing midwives at an alarming rate with around 500 nurses and midwives leaving the NHS each week. The percentage of Trusts under investigation for maternity failings is also the highest it’s ever been. Birth trauma is even now being discussed in the House of Commons.

Women are and will continue to have babies.

So why should this matter to you?

Why should you care?

‘How exactly does this affect my life’? Is what you may be wondering.

The truth is that maternal mortality has increased by 15% since 2009-2011. This is wrong and should not be happening with modern medicine. Suicide is the biggest killer of women in the first year after having a baby, it’s not through infection, nor haemorrhage.

There aren’t enough midwives to adequately support the 605 479 live births each year in England and Wales (ONS, 2023) and all of those who require maternity care.

It takes a tribe to raise an infant and nurturing the next generation is everyone’s responsibility. This mammoth task should not fall on the shoulders of one mother.

Maternity is failing, communities are failing, employers are failing.

Help us to do more, change begins today and change happens together.

Click here to join and become part of the revolution.

Further support on the issues we have addressed can be found from the link above. Do register for our newsletters to get the most up-to-date resources.

Looking forward to having you on board,
Olivia

PS. If you want to see all of Campaign M – click here to view our opening post and scroll on from there.

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February 15, 2024 10:48 am employee wellbeing, maternal health, maternity returners, organisational wellbeing, postnatal issues, postnatal support, postpartum health