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Closure: How the flagship Albany Midwifery Practice, at the heart of its South London community, was demonised and dismantled
In 1997 the Albany Midwifery Practice in Peckham, South London, negotiated a pioneering NHS contract with King’s College Hospital Trust. The Albany model of midwifery care was loved and respected not only by those who experienced it first-hand, but also by the wider midwifery profession. Founded to serve one of the most disadvantaged populations in London, its innovative approach led to improved outcomes for mothers and their babies. Why, then, was the practice suddenly shut down in 2009?
Although it was widely acknowledged that the Albany model offered gold-standard care, the hospital trust claimed that since March 2006 this care had been ‘unsafe’. But both the data and the methodology used to condemn the practice were flawed, and the real reasons for the closure remained obscure. Despite extensive protests by mothers and families, midwives, and many high-profile supporters, the Albany was forced to close its doors and one of the midwives was subjected to a punitive investigation by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which eventually found that there was no case to answer.
Midwives and campaigners have long pushed for answers about what really happened to this flagship midwifery practice. In this damning assessment, based on years of careful research and interviews, the authors reveal how a hugely successful healthcare project was undermined and dismantled, to the detriment of mothers and babies, the wider community and the midwifery profession as a whole.
As maternity services are scrutinised once more, and as the NHS struggles to implement its policy of continuity of midwifery care, this hard-hitting account of the fate of the Albany could not be more relevant or more timely.
Although it was widely acknowledged that the Albany model offered gold-standard care, the hospital trust claimed that since March 2006 this care had been ‘unsafe’. But both the data and the methodology used to condemn the practice were flawed, and the real reasons for the closure remained obscure. Despite extensive protests by mothers and families, midwives, and many high-profile supporters, the Albany was forced to close its doors and one of the midwives was subjected to a punitive investigation by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which eventually found that there was no case to answer.
Midwives and campaigners have long pushed for answers about what really happened to this flagship midwifery practice. In this damning assessment, based on years of careful research and interviews, the authors reveal how a hugely successful healthcare project was undermined and dismantled, to the detriment of mothers and babies, the wider community and the midwifery profession as a whole.
As maternity services are scrutinised once more, and as the NHS struggles to implement its policy of continuity of midwifery care, this hard-hitting account of the fate of the Albany could not be more relevant or more timely.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 11, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 6, 2026
This book was written quite some time after the events described, and quite some time after the main author retired from midwifery. And the content of the book shows why - she simply wouldn't be recovered enough to write it before (fortunately there are plenty of references). I am wondering if the other midwives couldn't face it... perhaps they are still trying to work as registered midwives and feel they can't risk it. It's a pity not to hear their voices more, although particular things happened to this particular midwife in the group so it is deservedly 'her' book.
It's my view (the book doesn't say this) that there are people (most of them women which is particularly depressing) named in this book who are responsible (at convenient arm's length) for women and babies suffering harm and possibly death because of their role in this affair. How could you deduce otherwise when the practice had better outcomes and all the deep dives into individual cases produced no findings of what the midwife should have done differently? If you don't want to pay for a service, just say so. There are so many utter nonsenses (eg the midwives all being offered jobs when supposedly the issue was unsafe practice) - to be honest if they are at all decent people (and it seems some of them were at one time) they must have done irreparable harm to themselves (not, I note from a little investigation, to their own careers, ahem)
Many of the commentaries (from a wide range of very respected and knowledgeable people - and in my experience midwives) do suffer from being more cheerleading testimonials than forensic taking down of what was done to the women and to the midwives. And sometimes the timeline gets quite confused although that does contribute to an insight into the battering that these midwives took.
This is not the only instance of the deliberate destruction of a service under the immediate banner of there having been extreme improper or unsafe practice... and then later exoneration. That said, this isn't, as it turns out, a conspiracy theory sort of a book - in that there's not much of a theory advanced or laboured, certainly by the victims. That makes it a little unsatisfying for the reader, but should increase the respect for the writers.
It's my view (the book doesn't say this) that there are people (most of them women which is particularly depressing) named in this book who are responsible (at convenient arm's length) for women and babies suffering harm and possibly death because of their role in this affair. How could you deduce otherwise when the practice had better outcomes and all the deep dives into individual cases produced no findings of what the midwife should have done differently? If you don't want to pay for a service, just say so. There are so many utter nonsenses (eg the midwives all being offered jobs when supposedly the issue was unsafe practice) - to be honest if they are at all decent people (and it seems some of them were at one time) they must have done irreparable harm to themselves (not, I note from a little investigation, to their own careers, ahem)
Many of the commentaries (from a wide range of very respected and knowledgeable people - and in my experience midwives) do suffer from being more cheerleading testimonials than forensic taking down of what was done to the women and to the midwives. And sometimes the timeline gets quite confused although that does contribute to an insight into the battering that these midwives took.
This is not the only instance of the deliberate destruction of a service under the immediate banner of there having been extreme improper or unsafe practice... and then later exoneration. That said, this isn't, as it turns out, a conspiracy theory sort of a book - in that there's not much of a theory advanced or laboured, certainly by the victims. That makes it a little unsatisfying for the reader, but should increase the respect for the writers.
June 28, 2023
Painfully important to read and re-read. We must always question why the services that women and families want, services that provide beneficial short and long term health outcomes, are destroyed.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews