Mothers left covered in blood for hours and told to 'stop stressing', report into 'shockingly poor' maternity care finds
13 May 2024, 13:15 | Updated: 13 May 2024, 13:24
Women undergoing traumatic births are being 'treated as an inconvenience', according to a landmark enquiry which found 'shockingly poor quality' maternity care is 'tolerated as normal'.
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The shocking revelations are part of the UK's first parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma in maternity services which found good care was 'the exception rather than the rule'.
More than 1,300 women who had traumatic birth experiences contributed to the report, with some describing how they had been left to lie covered in blood for hours and reprimanded by midwives after soiling themselves.
Women were generally "treated as an inconvenience", the report released on Monday said, as mothers spoke about the "distress at being neglected, ignored or belittled at a time when women were at their most vulnerable".
The parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma is now calling for a national plan to improve maternity care.
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One woman who was pregnant with twins and went into premature labour at just 19 weeks described being told by a consultant doctor to "stop stressing" after losing the first baby.
"I was told by one of the consultants to stop my crying, calm down and try to save the other baby," she told the report.
"His words were: 'This baby was dead a long time anyway so you should stop stressing over it and let's try to save the other one'." The second baby died.
Another woman who suffered bowel problems after a traumatic birth said she was told by a doctor: "Why don't I just a stick an anal plug in and get on with my day."
The all-party inquiry - which was led by Conservative MP Theo Clarke and Labour MP Rosie Duffield - called for the creation of a maternity commissioner reporting to the prime minister.
Ms Clarke, who pushed for the inquiry after saying in Parliament that she felt she was going to die after giving birth in 2022, said there is an unacceptable "postcode lottery on maternity services".
"In many of these cases, the trauma was caused by mistakes and failures made before and during labour. Frequently, these errors were covered up by hospitals who frustrated parents' efforts to find answers," the authors wrote.
"There were also many stories of care that lacked compassion, including women not being listened to when they felt something was wrong, being mocked or shouted at and being denied basic needs such as pain relief.
"Women shared stories of being left in blood-stained sheets, or of ringing the bell for help but no one coming.
"We also heard from maternity professionals who reported a maternity system in which overwork and understaffing was endemic. Some referred to a culture of bullying.
"The picture to emerge was of a maternity system where poor care is all too frequently tolerated as normal, and women are treated as an inconvenience."
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The report authors also called for more midwives and maternity staff, for new mothers and babies to have separate health checks at six weeks so the doctor can fully assess the mother's mental and physical health and additional efforts to reduce the risk of birth injuries.
They made recommendations about providing more information on birth choices for women and informing them about the risk of injuries in childbirth.
The authors also called for women's choices about giving birth and access to pain relief to be "respected".
Meanwhile they said that the time limit for medical negligence litigation relating to childbirth should be extended from three years to five years.
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".
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: "The experiences outlined by women in this report are simply not good enough and not what the NHS wants or expects for patients."
She said that NHS England was working with local health bodies so "their teams can create and nurture a culture where women are listened to, their choices respected and care is personalised, equitable and safe".
Health minister Maria Caulfield said that maternity services "have not been where we want them to be" when she was challenged about the findings of the report.
