Women ‘treated as an inconvenience’ and risk injuries, birth trauma report finds
More than 1,000 women spoke about their experience giving birth in the UK with some sharing 'horrific testimonies' .
A new report found women giving birth in the UK are ‘treated as an inconvenience’ and risk injury and post-traumatic stress.
As a result, the all-party parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma is calling for a national plan to improve maternity care.
The investigation, led by Conservative MP Theo Clarke and Labour MP Rosie Duffield, presents its findings to ministers today.
Around 1,300 women were interviewed about their experiences of giving birth – some said they were left in blood-soaked sheets and others suffered life-changing injuries because of medical negligence.
The enquiry, which also found ‘poor [maternity] care is frequently tolerated as normal’ recommends creating a maternity commissioner that reports to the Prime Minister.
Ms Clarke pushed for the inquiry after revealing in parliament that she felt as if she was going to die following the birth of her child in 2022.
She told The Times: ‘We have listened to mums carefully and applaud their bravery in coming forward, sometimes with horrific testimony of how the system failed them and the mental, physical and economic cost of that failure.
‘The raft of recommendations we make, especially the appointment of a maternity commissioner, are all designed to end the postcode lottery on maternity services.’
She also spoke on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning and said the inquiry showed ‘very strongly’ that there appears to be a ‘postcode lottery for maternity care in this country’.
She added: ‘That’s something that I don’t think is acceptable – that depending on where you live, you will literally be offered a different level of care in terms of how you’re given support during child birth and afterwards.’
Ms Clarke suffered a third-degree tear when she gave birth, causing her to bleed heavily. As a result she had to undergo a two-hour surgery without general anaesthetic, due to an earlier epidural.
She said: ‘I remember pressing the emergency button after I’d come out of surgery and a lady came in and said she couldn’t help me, said it wasn’t her baby, wasn’t her problem and walked out and left me there.
‘So we need to make sure there are safe levels of staffing.
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the experiences of more than 1,300 women who have evidence to the inquiry were ‘simply not good enough’.
One of the women interviewed, Helen, is still suffering from mental and physical pain years after the birth of her son.
He was born with a hypoxic brain injury as a result of proven medical negligence during his birth.
‘My life will never be as it should be. I never returned to work, I live a very secluded life, as friends and family shun you when you have a disabled child that they might not understand or are scared of.’
The report called for a ‘base standard in maternity services’ across the country and an end to the postcode lottery of perinatal care.
All mothers should have ‘universal access to specialist maternal mental health services across the UK’, it said.
It also asked the government to outline how it would ‘recruit, train and retain more midwives, obstetricians and anaesthetists to ensure safe levels of staffing in maternity services and provide mandatory training on trauma-informed care’.
Health secretary Victoria Atkins said she was ‘determined to improve the quality and consistency of care for women throughout pregnancy, birth and the critical months that follow’.
In January, Ms Atkins spoke about her own experience of the ‘darker corners’ of the NHS after giving birth as someone with type on diabetes.
‘I want to reform our NHS and care system to make it faster, simpler and fairer for all of us and that includes women,’ she said.
Meanwhile, women’s health minister Maria Caulfield was asked on Sky News whether there was an apology to make.
She replied: ‘Absolutely. I recognise as women’s health minister that maternity services have not been where we want them to be.’
If you want to learn more about birth trauma – what it is, the tell-tale signs and what to do if you experience it – read our guide here.
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