In Finland all expectant mom’s are given a starter pack which consists of clothes, sheets and toys. This tradition dates back to the 1930s and it was intended to give all babies the same start in life. The UK could take on this tradition to ensure that all babies born here have the same start too. To read the full article follow the linkhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22751415
After last weeks announcement from supermarkets that it will be limiting the amount of baby milk to 2 cartons per customer, lots of stories were ciculated. Which may have caused people to panic buy or worry about what to feed their babies if they run out. Many of our clients cannot afford to buy extra baby milk so will usually run out before they buy more. Hearing about supermarkets limiting sales may put women off buying formula and may be prepared to try Breastfeeding, however, if there was more information on formula feeding for parents to access they could compare the benefits of Breastfeeding and make the right decision for themselves. This doesn’t help when aggressive advertising in the media from the 2 leading Breast milk substitute manufacturers Nestle and Danone causes panic buying of infant formula.
For example, according to (Baby Milk Action 2013).
This marketing war has now reached the UK following Nestlé’s takeover of Pfizer Nutrition/Wyeth in 2012, manufacture of the SMA brand. Both Danone and Nestlé have launched new strategies to promote their products – the former gaining media coverage by claiming individuals in the UK are buying up formula to send to China thus causing a shortage in the UK, the latter taking advantage of any formula panic buying by putting its follow-on formula on prominent price promotion to increase sales.
Are milk companies creating this type of panic to increase its sales. Headlines last week on BBC website were;
“Baby milk rationed in UK over China export fear”
(BBC news online 8th April 2013 Last updated at 19:20)
Nestle have denied any evidence of bulk buying for export (Baby Milk Action 2013)
“We have confirmed that there are sufficient stocks of infant formula for the UK and parents should continue to buy formula milk as usual.”
The Department of 13th April 2013
Some of the women we work with may not even be aware of this in the news as many do not have access to the internet so therefore may not really affect them.
For more information follow the link below
Pows work with many pregnant women that experience some kind of discrimination at work, but with the right information these women are able to inform their employers of their rights and Pows support with this by either liaising with employers or by making these women aware of their rights at work. A recent article about “Maternity discrimination on the rise” details how the Fawcett Society states that how in times of Austerity this discrimination will increase. To read the Article follow the link
Maternity discrimination on the rise
I have been supporting a client to maintain her first property as she was in need of items of furniture she decided to apply for a Community Care Grant I advised her to send it back ASAP. However, because the clients partner said that they probably wouldnt get it because they were cutting it she did not send it off, she has now missed the deadline. This is because new Welfare Provision which began on 1st of April this year has introduced discretionary funding that will only provide to the very vulnerable who are in short term crisis. This can either be by providing a pre paid card for Asda Supermarket, Crisis Grant or Community Support Grant. This will only be available to certain people that fit the criteria and there will not be any forms of cash Grants available. Vulnerable families will also have to demonstrate that they have exhausted all other avenues before any Grant can be given. This means that those vulnerable families for whatever reason find themselves in a crisis will find it harder to access these schemes due to a lack of information.
This is why we as Pregnancy Outreach Workers will need to be aware of these changes and of other local organisations that support families in need, more information can be found at
I am supporting a lady with more or less the same circumstances. Ruby (not her real name) initially came to UK on a student visa to study Business and Management. She has a brother who is married and settled in the UK. After 6 months into her study, Ruby had a proposal for marriage from her extended family. The man was a divorcee with three children. He said that his children are with his ex-wife and he has his own property. Ruby and her brother accepted the proposal.
Just two weeks after the wedding, Ruby was physically and emotionally abused by her husband and her in-laws. When she questioned her husband, he said that I have only married you to look after my children and cook and clean for me. He further said to Ruby that she is never to get pregnant as that could hinder in the care provided for his three children from his first wife. Ruby further said that she also wishes to have her own children, but her husband used contraception to make sure she does not conceive . Ruby was devastated and heartbroken. However Ruby decided to adjust herself to the circumstances and tried very hard to become not a good wife but a good slave. She adhered to all his needs and was looking after his three children.
Surprisingly Ruby fell pregnant, upon hearing this news her husband and her in laws beat her with the attempt that she would miscarry. Ruby became very depressed and stated she wanted to commit suicide. That night, when the family left Ruby ran out of the house onto the street and asked a man in a car for help, she asked him if she can use his phone and phoned her brother. Her brother came rushing and took Ruby to his house, where she tearfully disclosed all the ordeal she went through. Her brother called the Police and Ruby’s husband was arrested.
Two months later, Ruby is still living with her brother and her husband has threatened her that he will deport her from this country and disown her child, making sure she has no help and support. Ruby is fighting for her indefinite leave to remain in UK with the help and support from myself, her Solicitor, Women’s aid and the Police.
Supporting a client who arrived in the UK with her EEA National husband from Gambia in November, proved to be a challenge.
Not long after arriving her husband began sexually,phisically and financially abusing her. The client was socially isolated with no family or friends I began supporting her on a weekly basis when she disclosed the abuse to me. I advised her of her options and made contact with Women’s Aid refuge helpline.
When I was going through the referral with the refuge it became apparent that because the client was on a spousal visa the refuge did not know whether she would be able to access public funding.
We filled in the UKBA (UK Border Agency) form under the Domestic Violence Concession (DDV) which was declined due to her Visa expiring in March 2013. This meant that she had not been given leave to remain.
This left the client in a state of despair as the refuge would not take her that day, meaning she would have to stay with her abuser.
After numerous calls to other organisations and agencies no one knew whether she could access public funding therefore would not take her.
However, after more phonecalls and researching it was agreed that spouses of EEA Nationals could access public funding if the EEA National had worked in the UK. Therefore, I managed to secure a refuge for my client and she arrived there safe and has now been rehoused and is accessing public funds.
Bathing your newborn baby can be an exciting and scary experience for some parents especially during the first few weeks of life. Most babies are very fragile and quite slippery when wet, which can make baby bath time a wee bit intimidating particularly during the first week or two.
Pregnancy Outreach Workers offer Parent craft sessions, in order to boost parents confidence in how to feed, bath and care for their new born baby, as well as making sure that they take into consideration the safety procedures when bathing their baby.
The singer Pink is quite happy to talk about Breastfeeding her daughter Willow and has spoken about it often in the press. So when her Husband Carey Hart posted a picture on Twitter of his wife feeding their daughter last week I thought it was a good thing. In my view this is the way forward with regard to encouraging young mums ‘especially’ to Breastfeed because of celebrity culture we need more celebritites appearing in the media showing that Breastfeeding is normal. The media tends to show the extreme images of Breastfeeding e.g women feeding their 4 year old in public, which does put people off. Take a look here Pink
The BBC documentary “Why Poverty” looks at women from different countries in the world, and their experience of childbirth. The programe shows how each country deals with childbirth and infant mortality.
Here in the UK we have a very good ante natal service and although we do have issues within the NHS regarding tackling infant mortality, this shows how good the NHS is and the documenary compares some of the extreme conditions women in other countries face, for example, Sierra Leone has a high Infant Mortality rate,and shows a pregnant lady travelling for days to get to a medical centre only to lose her baby and die herself. Watch the video here
Why Poverty
One pregnant lady receiving support from the POWs service who was living with a friend, has no Leave To Remain in the UK, benefited from the food bank at Gateway. The lady who is from Malawi, Africa has no family support and is not entitled to any form of benefits therefore she has recieved 3 food parcels in total. This was while she was waiting for an appointment at the Law centre and Narthex a charity who support local communities. As she is now 25 weeks pregnant her status is not resolved, social services were involved but are not anymore because she has overstayed in the UK, for this lady life looks bleak as she struggles to get by with help from the POW service.
Pregnancy Outreach Workers 
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