Two women supported in Glasgow by private midwife Krishinda Powers-Duff speak of their experiences

She was at home, she was supported by friends and she had avoided any additional medical interventions - despite her baby being three weeks overdue.

But the 36-year-old was only able to have her preferred choice of birth after opting to forgo NHS care and choose the care of a private midwife.

When the NHS home birthing teams were suspended between March and July due to Scottish Government Covid-19 guidance, women who had hoped to give birth away from a medical setting had their choice taken from them.

Jilly was one of those under the care of the NHS home birthing team but, when the pandemic hit, she was told she would have to give birth in hospital.

The 36-year-old was adamant she wanted a home birth and to avoid medical interventions as far as possible.

She said: "I had seen friends who were very confident and strong in their bodies go into hospital and have medical interventions that left them with lasting damage.

"At the beginning of the pandemic I was told home birthing services were being withdrawn and that was quite a scary time.

"There were no independent midwives in Scotland, which was tragic in itself, but then I heard about this midwife who was coming to Scotland from abroad."

Jilly is one of several women who were cared for in and around Glasgow by midwife Krishinda Powers-Duff.

As we told in yesterday's Glasgow Times, Krishinda is subject to an 18 month interim order from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which prevents her from working, as she waits for her case to be heard.

The 51-year-old self-referred to the professional watchdog after an incident where she stepped in to help a mother who was freebirthing - giving birth without a midwife or doctor - and whose baby was at risk.

Krishinda was not insured to work at the birth and so breached the NMC's guidelines.

Two women who were supported by Krishinda asked to tell their stories of her care.

Jilly was becoming a parent in a "slightly unorthodox" situation, which she claims the NHS midwives struggled with.

Jillian and baby

She said: "But Krishinda held space for my feelings and my emotions and what was going on in my body."

Jilly's due date was May 7 but the baby was overdue and, she says, NHS midwives were in touch to recommend an induction.

She said: "I did not want interventions. Every two or three days Krishinda came out to check on me, as well as being in touch by phone, and was really present and really wonderful."

Jilly's pregnancy went three and a half weeks overdue before labour began.

The NHS recommends an induction between 41 and 42 weeks of pregnancy due to increased risk of stillbirth but Jilly said she was aware of the risks and comfortable with her choice.

She said: "Krishinda acted as a buffer between the NHS midwives and I. She was under so much pressure on my behalf.

"I feel so grateful and lucky to have been allowed to have had that birthing experience - the NHS would have pulled the plug on it.

"It was a beautiful experience and with Krishinda's loss other woman will not have that option, which is so unfair."

An NHS GCC spokesman said the health board is unable to comment on Jillian's case "as it relates to a service provided outside of NHSGGC."

Kirstin McLean was pregnant with her second child when she decided to look for an alternative to NHS post-natal care.

She had endured a difficult labour with her first daughter that lead to post-traumatic stress and it was five years before she felt ready to have another child.

However, halfway through the pregnancy, Kirstin turned 40 and, she said, "Everything changed because my age was "old" in the eyes of the NHS, so I became high risk."

Kirstin felt midwives were pressuring her to make decisions, rather than giving her the autonomy to make her own choices which, given her past experience, put her under additional stress.

A mutual friend told her about Krishinda.

Kirstin said: "Krishinda agreed to take over my postnatal care because once I had given birth I didn't want these midwives in my house making me feel like that when I had just had a new baby.

"So when these procedures were happening and midwives were saying this scary stuff to me I was able to phone Krishinda up and she was like 'Ok, what they have offered you is one choice, here is another option' and that was invaluable in helping me stay grounded and healthy."

Kirstin gave birth to her second daughter in a Glasgow maternity unit in July but the birth did not go as she planned and she is now planning a complaint to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

She said: "I decided to complain as soon as I came out of hospital. There are seven points to my complaint but the common threads are that they use a one size fits all approach to women - because I was 40 on paper, they didn't take into account what my lifestyle was or my own wishes.

"The second thing is the lack of information they give that ties into disempowerment of the woman."

Kirstin also claims that staff had a "hostile and incredulous response" to her choice of having a private midwife for her post-natal care.

She added: "That ward that I was on seemed like an opportunity for women who do not care about the sisterhood of women to come and be bullies to other women.

"It felt like a series of disempowered, bitter people that wanted to make themselves feel empowered by being crappy to another woman.

"Someone like Krishinda, I can't praise her highly enough, honestly her method and her way of speaking to women, her way of relating to women is as it should be.

"It's the way it should be across the board in midwifery. She stands out a mile as being different and amazing and I've got to say I think it's a massive loss in Glasgow that we don't have her any more.

"You are just a set of mechanics in the NHS system. But to Krishinda you are a whole being with emotions and mechanics."

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said the health board takes "a person-centred approach to care".

He added: "This underpins all decisions we make, and as such, we work with the patient to ensure their individual requirements are tailored for where ever possible.

“We were therefore disappointed to hear about this woman’s concerns regarding her care.

"While we cannot comment on individual cases, we welcome all feedback from patients as part of routine service and we have a number of mechanisms, both formal and informal to ensure we’re able to capture and act on any issues which might arise.

"We would welcome this patient to get in touch so we can discuss her concerns further.”

In England there were around 150 registered independent midwives but in June, due to the pressures of Covid-19 and Brexit, the company providing their insurance withdrew it, leaving them no longer legally allowed to assist with births.

Krishinda

Krishinda is now waiting for her NMC appeal date, which is expected in the new year, but there are currently no independent midwives working in the country.

Kirstin says she believes more options should be open to women and birthing parents in Scotland.

She said: "I have had two girls and the thought of their autonomy being stripped from them as it was from me at times breaks my heart. That cannot happen.

"There are women having babies in a really disempowered way and that's not on."