25 years of BJM

For those of you as old as us, you will remember 1993 as a significant year for many reasons. Mr Blobby was knocked off the number one spot by Take That with their song ‘Babe’; Sonia represented the UK in the Eurovision song contest with the song ‘Better the Devil You Know’; and the UK was introduced to Caesar salad for the first time after the recipe appeared in the New York Times. Interestingly, 1993 was also the year when the first high speed train crossed English Channel, and the year that Intel introduced the world-changing Pentium 32-bit microprocessors. These latter developments have contributed vastly to the globalised world.

From a midwifery perspective, 1993 brought the much publicised Government report Changing Childbirth (Department of Health and Social Care, 1993). Although it never reached its full potential, its aim of improving women-centred care was highly valued, and it was certainly the catalyst to a number of important national and local discussions, prompting the acceptance of new midwifery models of care. Having discussed the new Maternity Transformation Programme at many midwifery meetings over the past year, it is clear that the ethos of Changing Childbirth and the drive to improve care is as strong as it ever was.