I loved being a midwife but bullying, stress and fear made me resign

I am tired of the paperwork, the audits, the inspections and the nights on the sofa sobbing after another dreadful shift

I am a midwife with eight years experience and I love my job. I practise in a large, bustling unit where the sounds of the doorbell, fridge alarms, emergency bells and birthing women create a glorious symphony. Eight years on I still get a frisson of excitement when I go on shift and see a full board and a busy delivery ward.

But I practise in a unit where women’s needs and autonomy are quashed under reams of risk assessments, individual needs forms, care plans, catheter forms, cannula forms, ankle measurements and tick boxes on what leaflet was given to each woman and when. I work in an environment where my dedicated, courageous colleagues who want the best birth for every woman they care for now work from a place of fear - and that is a great tragedy. I am supposed to be the guardian of normal birth.

Related: I start the day with anti-depressants and end wishing I didn’t work in NHS payroll

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