The future of the celebrated Albany group of independent midwives has been put in doubt after south London’s King’s College Hospital terminated its contract * Sarah Boseley and John Domokos * guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 December 2009 21.58 GMT The future of the celebrated Albany group of independent midwives has been put in doubt after south London’s King’s College Hospital terminated its contract, alleging that a disproportionate number of the babies it delivered suffered damage during the birth. The Albany group, which works in Peckham, south London, where deprivation levels are high, has long been held up as a shining example of what is possible in NHS midwifery. It supports women to give birth wherever they choose almost half give birth at home and medical intervention rates are low. All women have their babies delivered by the midwife they first see and the group’s caesarean and medical intervention rates are low. But King’s says babies delivered by Albany midwives had higher rates of hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy brain damage caused by lack of oxygen and lack of blood flow to the brain than those delivered by midwives it employs directly over the last two and a half years. Such brain damage can be caused during birth for example, if the cord gets wrapped around the baby’s neck but it can also occur in the womb. King’s decided to terminate the contract after commissioning a report from the Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries (CMACE). It is believed the …