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Very deep breaths. A chap is now in charge of the NCT The National Childbirth Trust is now run by a man. Time for deep breaths
(1 day later)
After 60 years of telling anxious women to relax and calm down, it probably makes complete sense that the National Childbirth Trust should now be run by a man. It is plain, anyway, that Nick Wilkie, its new chief executive, does not plan to make too many allowances, as he dispenses handy hints to the childbearing, for any patriarchy-related sensitivities. In an early intervention, he commends a sponsored scheme called Let’s Get Moving, currently being trialled with “new mums” in Bedfordshire.After 60 years of telling anxious women to relax and calm down, it probably makes complete sense that the National Childbirth Trust should now be run by a man. It is plain, anyway, that Nick Wilkie, its new chief executive, does not plan to make too many allowances, as he dispenses handy hints to the childbearing, for any patriarchy-related sensitivities. In an early intervention, he commends a sponsored scheme called Let’s Get Moving, currently being trialled with “new mums” in Bedfordshire.
“Exercise after the birth of a baby might be last thing on mothers’ minds,” Mr Wilkie allows, in a style that recalls nothing so much as Pippa Middleton on entertaining, “but it can help their bodies to recover, keeping them fit and also helping them to relax.” “Exercise after the birth of a baby might be the last thing on mothers’ minds,” Mr Wilkie allows, in a style that recalls nothing so much as Pippa Middleton on entertaining, “but it can help their bodies to recover, keeping them fit and also helping them to relax.”
True, Mr Wilkie is, as was noted upon his appointment, a career charity executive, who appears to bring no specialist childbirth knowledge, training or experience, beyond his fathering of three small children, to a body once proudly associated with expertise in parturition. And, given the under-representation of women at the top of big charities, there was always going to be some regret that the NCT, an influential, women-founded and women-oriented charity should, for the first time in its history, choose to imitate the conventional pattern: a dominant male commanding a predominantly female staff.True, Mr Wilkie is, as was noted upon his appointment, a career charity executive, who appears to bring no specialist childbirth knowledge, training or experience, beyond his fathering of three small children, to a body once proudly associated with expertise in parturition. And, given the under-representation of women at the top of big charities, there was always going to be some regret that the NCT, an influential, women-founded and women-oriented charity should, for the first time in its history, choose to imitate the conventional pattern: a dominant male commanding a predominantly female staff.
But give him time and there is no denying that, in what seems to be his first major pronouncement, Mr Wilkie has just attracted more publicity for his organisation than it has enjoyed in years of decrying midwife shortages, campaigning for home births and lamenting the chilling advance of the elective caesarian. Having inspected the membership, it was widely reported that Mr Wilkie found himself surprised that this is, probably like its management, “disproportionately middle class”. Perhaps the cost – around £300 a time – of some NCT courses, and their popularity in the Mumsnet-inclined demographic, never came up at the time of his job interview. Or possibly Mr Wilkie thought it worth sharing his reservations about the NCT’s membership, whatever the reputational impact, so as to advertise the fact that, under him, things are changing. On taking the job, he declared – presumably on the basis that the UK has dedicated childbirth charities to spare – that he is now “driven by the principle that no family should be left behind”. But give him time and there is no denying that, in what seems to be his first major pronouncement, Mr Wilkie has just attracted more publicity for his organisation than it has enjoyed in years of decrying midwife shortages, campaigning for home births and lamenting the chilling advance of the elective caesarean. Having inspected the membership, it was widely reported that Mr Wilkie found himself surprised that this is, probably like its management, “disproportionately middle class”. Perhaps the cost – around £300 a time – of some NCT courses, and their popularity in the Mumsnet-inclined demographic, never came up at the time of his job interview. Or possibly Mr Wilkie thought it worth sharing his reservations about the NCT’s membership, whatever the reputational impact, so as to advertise the fact that, under him, things are changing. On taking the job, he declared – presumably on the basis that the UK has dedicated childbirth charities to spare – that he is now “driven by the principle that no family should be left behind”.
Either way, in what should surely be acknowledged as a towering contribution to the mansplaining archives – NCT classes in middle-class shock – Mr Wilkie does not appear to have balanced the case for remedial action with much emphasis on what the NCT has achieved and continues to do (as a contributor to the imminent Maternity Review report) for all mothers. Not excluding women who have never had the pleasure of Sheila Kitzinger’s erotical rhapsodies and others who chose, as I did, to attend an NHS class more amenable to modern medicine.Either way, in what should surely be acknowledged as a towering contribution to the mansplaining archives – NCT classes in middle-class shock – Mr Wilkie does not appear to have balanced the case for remedial action with much emphasis on what the NCT has achieved and continues to do (as a contributor to the imminent Maternity Review report) for all mothers. Not excluding women who have never had the pleasure of Sheila Kitzinger’s erotical rhapsodies and others who chose, as I did, to attend an NHS class more amenable to modern medicine.
Many mothers, including women as astonishingly middle class as Kirsty Allsop, have become hostile to the NCT’s fetishisation of normal (ie, intervention-free) births, which has left too many women with healthy newborn babies feeling that a pain-relieved, orgasm-free performance is a cause for lifelong regret.Many mothers, including women as astonishingly middle class as Kirsty Allsop, have become hostile to the NCT’s fetishisation of normal (ie, intervention-free) births, which has left too many women with healthy newborn babies feeling that a pain-relieved, orgasm-free performance is a cause for lifelong regret.
In fact, before he rolls out a programme of NCT missions, Mr Wilkie might want to look at the market for pointlessly painful deliveries and at the practicalities that stand between residents in crowded or notably unharmonious properties and their accomplishing the NCT’s beau ideal: a candlelit home birth in a warm pool.In fact, before he rolls out a programme of NCT missions, Mr Wilkie might want to look at the market for pointlessly painful deliveries and at the practicalities that stand between residents in crowded or notably unharmonious properties and their accomplishing the NCT’s beau ideal: a candlelit home birth in a warm pool.
Nonetheless, all labouring British mothers and their partners are indebted to that organisation, blitherings about birth passion and all. Its hypnosis and speciality birth music are, unlike stirrups in the old days, optional. Without the NCT, the notion that maternal choice should be prioritised over, say, an obstetrician’s golfing commitments, might be as alien as it was in 1956, when Prunella Briance proposed “a natural childbirth association”. When her baby died in childbirth, Briance had been told by a midwife: “Oh dear me, I’m all thumbs today.” The motivation, said another founder member, Gwen Rankin, was simple: “Just a desire to share knowledge and skills with pregnant women everywhere.” Nonetheless, all labouring British mothers and their partners are indebted to that organisation, blitherings about birth passion and all. Its hypnosis and speciality birth music are, unlike stirrups in the old days, optional. Without the NCT, the notion that maternal choice should be prioritised over, say, an obstetrician’s golfing commitments, might be as alien as it was in 1956, when Prunella Briance proposed “a natural childbirth association”. When her baby died during its birth, Briance had been told by a midwife: “Oh dear me, I’m all thumbs today.” The motivation, said another founder member, Gwen Rankin, was simple: “Just a desire to share knowledge and skills with pregnant women everywhere.”
By the 70s, the organisation was compelling the NHS to listen to women on maternity, a campaign that culminated with a 1993 government report, Changing Childbirth. Its implementation was meant to put women and their choices at the centre of maternity care.By the 70s, the organisation was compelling the NHS to listen to women on maternity, a campaign that culminated with a 1993 government report, Changing Childbirth. Its implementation was meant to put women and their choices at the centre of maternity care.
Maybe the extent to which this mission has been accomplished can be gauged from the arrival at the NCT of a non-specialist leader, Mr Wilkie, embodying, literally, its expansive new concern for the entire family. If, on the other hand, this repurposing looks a little hasty, there is at least a new childbirth charity, Birthrights, concerned with substandard maternity care. “I believe that childbirth is one of the most pressing feminist issues of our time,” its founder, Elizabeth Prochaska, said at its launch, in 2013. “Women, and particularly pregnant women, are too often dismissed as irrational, emotionally unstable, unable to make wise decisions and in need of guidance.”Maybe the extent to which this mission has been accomplished can be gauged from the arrival at the NCT of a non-specialist leader, Mr Wilkie, embodying, literally, its expansive new concern for the entire family. If, on the other hand, this repurposing looks a little hasty, there is at least a new childbirth charity, Birthrights, concerned with substandard maternity care. “I believe that childbirth is one of the most pressing feminist issues of our time,” its founder, Elizabeth Prochaska, said at its launch, in 2013. “Women, and particularly pregnant women, are too often dismissed as irrational, emotionally unstable, unable to make wise decisions and in need of guidance.”
While women are still, as she argues, patronised or disempowered by some maternity professionals, you might see the NCT’s desire for a man at the helm, like the children in Nina Stibbe’s brilliant novel of that name, as yet more of an affront to the women he now guides on health matters than were 17 years of leadership, for members of Mother’s Union, by a man called Reg Bailey. The Union is a Christian outfit and possibly more at ease with patriarchs, in this case, one hailing from Del Monte Foods. While women are still, as she argues, patronised or disempowered by some maternity professionals, you might see the NCT’s desire for a man at the helm, like the children in Nina Stibbe’s brilliant novel of that name, as yet more of an affront to the women he now guides on health matters than were 17 years of leadership, for members of Mothers’ Union, by a man called Reg Bailey. The Union is a Christian outfit and possibly more at ease with patriarchs, in this case, one hailing from Del Monte Foods.
In the NCT’s case, there has to be a risk that, far from enhancing its reach, a figurehead who is both lay and male actively reduces a constituency that might consider him about as persuasive on childbirth and breastfeeding as, say, would be a woman – even a super-caring woman with friends with huge beards and moustaches – at the Movember Foundation.In the NCT’s case, there has to be a risk that, far from enhancing its reach, a figurehead who is both lay and male actively reduces a constituency that might consider him about as persuasive on childbirth and breastfeeding as, say, would be a woman – even a super-caring woman with friends with huge beards and moustaches – at the Movember Foundation.
Even at her most provoking, the NCT’s finest, much lamented communicator, Sheila Kitzinger, had unquestionably given birth to five babies, and taught an MA in midwifery. If Nick Wilkie is better qualified to advise on exercise after episiotomies than, for instance, fellow father Donald Trump is on periods, it is only, surely, because he is not a comedy hater with mad hair.Even at her most provoking, the NCT’s finest, much lamented communicator, Sheila Kitzinger, had unquestionably given birth to five babies, and taught an MA in midwifery. If Nick Wilkie is better qualified to advise on exercise after episiotomies than, for instance, fellow father Donald Trump is on periods, it is only, surely, because he is not a comedy hater with mad hair.
Indeed, with this precedent, there seems no reason why more male leaders should not soon inspire female staff at Rape Crisis, BPAS and Women’s Aid, or transform the new Women’s Equality party into the more broadly empowering Reg’s party, or welcome us to Marie – and Reg – Stopes, Regnet, the Reg Fawcett Society.Indeed, with this precedent, there seems no reason why more male leaders should not soon inspire female staff at Rape Crisis, BPAS and Women’s Aid, or transform the new Women’s Equality party into the more broadly empowering Reg’s party, or welcome us to Marie – and Reg – Stopes, Regnet, the Reg Fawcett Society.
Assuming some women candidates for the NCT job, assuming they existed, had qualifications that rivalled Mr Wilkie’s, one notes that equality law does exempt some occupations, for instance in gender-specific services, religions, political shortlists, even acting, where a particular casting might look as wrong as a male Sheila Kitzinger.Assuming some women candidates for the NCT job, assuming they existed, had qualifications that rivalled Mr Wilkie’s, one notes that equality law does exempt some occupations, for instance in gender-specific services, religions, political shortlists, even acting, where a particular casting might look as wrong as a male Sheila Kitzinger.
Not, of course, that we want to lose Mr Wilkie. I am sure we all look forward, with enormous interest, to his thoughts on orgasmic birth.Not, of course, that we want to lose Mr Wilkie. I am sure we all look forward, with enormous interest, to his thoughts on orgasmic birth.