New beginnings.

摘要

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you have enjoyed the festive season and made some New Year's resolutions that you are sticking to. The New Year is always a hopeful time for me-a new beginning-and these new beginnings make my thoughts turn to midwifery and all the new beginnings midwives are so closely involved in. As I write this, a little babe, destined to be the first born of 2013, is still relaxing comfortably in the womb. By the time you read this that little babe will be out and about, helped on bis or her way by a midwife. The year 2012 was an interesting one for midwifery.1 The TV drama series 'Call the Midwife', set in the East End of London and based on the books written by Heidi Thomas recounting the memories of Jennifer Worth, was very popular and entertaining. It was also a clear reminder of how much we have moved on in the past 60 years or so in terms of our standards of living, public health and public expectations as well as maternity care. Another TV drama 'Downton Abbey' featured the sad case of a young woman dying of pre-eclampsia-leading to a bit of an informal and retrospective incident review between myself and our medical director!