Denise and her blog

Being Professional

Today, in what is bound to be a controversial discussion, Denise comments on the numerous worrying posts on social media from aromatherapy and reflexology groups which have caused her to reflect on professionalism in the complementary therapy disciplines.

She says:

I see dozens of posts on social media about complementary therapies and have become increasingly concerned about their professional calibre. Blanket suggestions on using aromatherapy in pregnancy come with no warnings about precautions. Some posts advocate aromatherapy for babies and toddlers, yet it should never be used on or near newborns and rarely, if ever, for toddlers. I've also seen posts on aromatherapy for animals despite the fact that many of the oils can be toxic to household pets.

Even more worryingly, I frequently see pictures of client's feet in reflexology groups posing questions to members on what the possible "diagnosis" might be and asking for suggestions for treatment. No indication is given as to whether client consent has been obtained, and making a diagnosis is impossible without a history and full examination. That's without the fact that reflexologists are taught that they should not "diagnose".

Whilst there are many highly professional complementary therapy practitioners including many who have additional training to treat people with specific clinical conditions, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and - of course - pregnancy, this sort of posting does the complementary therapy disciplines no favours in terms of credibility, both with the public and with colleagues who are registered healthcare professionalsOf course, you could argue that these ideas are on social - rather than professional -media which has hundreds of inappropriate and dangerous suggestions on all sorts of topics. However when inaccurate and potentially harmful advice is offered by so-called professional practitioners it causes me real.concern. I worry not only about the level of knowledge, understanding and experienc; of the individuals posting, but also, vicariously, about the impact on the wider disciplines of complementary therapies.

Having worked in midwifery complementary therapies for almost 40 years, I have been part of the movement to professionalise complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) that was particularly active in the 1990s when the then Foundation for Integrated Medicine, with the patronage of HRH Prince of Wales, campaigned for increased standards of education and research to facilitate greater integration of complementary therapies with conventional.medicine.

Since then CAM has lost much of its impetus although disciplines such as osteopathy and chiropractic are now firmly included, by law, in the allied health professions and acupuncture and medical herbalism are self-regulated and have high levels of training and professional Codes of Practice to monitor standards. Sadly, however I have to question whether aromatherapy and reflexology have slipped backwards into simply being relaxation therapies with no real professional or clinical credibility.

Expectancy Licensed Consultancy Explained

Denise is having a busy week in the office, preparing the prospectus for the new.academic year's courses. She is delighted, but not surprised, already to have received applications for our unique Diploma in Midwifery Complementary Therapies for next September from some very enthusiastic midwives, several of them wanting to combine this with our Licensed Consultancy scheme for private practice. However she questions why so.many.midwives in the last.few.years have been keen to explore the move into having their own businesses offering maternity services such as complementary therapies,. antenatal classes and breast feeding support. Denise says:

Midwives love caring for expectant parents but need also to care for themselves. Midwives are leaving the NHS in droves, newly qualified midwives are choosing not to practise and older midwives are retiring early - and it seems as if this is due, at least in part, to burnout. It may also be due to the insidious erosion of the midwife's role or the risk-averse, litigation-conscious, blame-throwing culture of the NHS.

Conversely, midwives are beginning to realise that the NHS doesn't own them and that they are entitled to use their considerable skills,.knowledge and.expertise to.provide women with what they want - services that are generally not available on the NHS. In the UK there is a grave misconception amongst midwives (and nurses) that they are trained by - and therefore solely for - the NHS but this simply isn't true. Qualification grants midwives a licence to practise midwifery anywhere and in whatever way they choose, subject to national law and professional regulations.

Further, there is a demand from expectant parents for services to be available that provide them with services that ease their progress through pregnancy and birth and transition to becoming a parent. These services are not available in the NHS largely because the maternity services are obstetric-led for the benefit of the majority of users. The maternity services remain focused on the biological (physical) wellbeing of pregnancy and, give less credence to the psychosocial elements.

Pregnancy is a stressful time, more so now than ever before. To be able to call upon a professional who can provide relaxation treatments such as massage or reflexology, antenatal advice and support or specialist services to ease backache, nausea or avoid induction of labour is very appealing to many during pregnancy, and expectant parents are often prepared to pay for them.

Our team of Expectancy-trained midwives working in private practice is growing and more and more women are discovering the benefits of having the support they can offer. This current academic year we had more midwives than ever before choosing to join us to train as Licensed Consultants so that they too can provide a range of complementary therapy services for expectant and new parents. Why don't you come and join us?

Chips With Everything

Denise was delighted to receive a ‘phone call this week from an old friend, Fiona. Denise, who developed and managed the BSc (Hons) degree in complementary therapies at the University of Greenwich, and Fiona, who was a health visitor, were lecturers in complementary therapies in the 1990s and early 2000s and were both instrumental in promoting the practice of complementary therapies within their respective professions. As is the way when you have not heard from someone for a while, they fell to reminiscing about the “good old days”. Denise left the University of Greenwich in December 2004 to set up Expectancy and Fiona reminded her of those early forays into freelance work.

Denise had arranged her very first private aromatherapy course for midwives and had booked a room in a small local hotel to run the course for eight weeks on a Tuesday evening from 5-8 pm. Nearing the day, she was worried that only four midwives had booked on the course and she asked Fiona if she should cancel it – to which Fiona replied “absolutely not!”. In order to boost numbers to a viable group, Denise then offered the course at a knock-down price to some of her midwifery friends, asking them to act as a pilot, so in the end there were eight midwives who attended. 

The course was not without a few issues. The hotel room overlooked the car park and the windows did not have curtains wide enough to close – so when the midwives were due to do the practical work, including back massage for labour, they had to tape all their coats over the windows to stop hotel residents coming in from the car park from looking into the room. Another problem was that all the midwives had rushed to the hotel ready to start the course at the end of an already tiring day of clinical work. Denise had originally requested teas and coffees to be available – but the midwives were so hungry and tired on that first day that she ordered chips to be brought in with the drinks. This became the routine every week and it was great fun studying aromatherapy whilst munching on hot chips with salt and vinegar – but Denise does admit that it meant she made no profit at all from that first course! Thankfully, things have improved and although she no longer provides chips with the courses, midwives still keep coming and Denise has now taught complementary therapies such as aromatherapy to over 3000 midwives since starting her business in 2004. Fiona was obviously right then!