Good care for pregnant women “is the exception rather than the rule”, a landmark inquiry has said.
A parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma found there was “shockingly low quality” in maternity services, resulting in care that lacked compassion and a system where “poor care is often tolerated as normal”.
The inquiry report is due to be released this morning and was first reported by The Times.
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The report also concluded that women were “treated as an inconvenience” and errors were covered up by hospitals, which “thwarted parents’ efforts to find answers.”
Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, said the experiences revealed in the report were “harrowing”.
The Times reported that the inquiry found that new mothers were left in blood-soaked sheets for hours, berated by midwives or, in one case, were dismissed as “anxious mothers” when their baby later died from complications over which she was warning.
The report calls for a new maternity commissioner who will report to the Prime Minister.
Every year, around 30,000 women have a negative experience before, during or after giving birth.
In 2011, Sarah Embleton suffered a serious injury during childbirth that doctors missed for over a year – leading to complications.
Sarah Embleton
“I was in a lot of pain most of the time because obviously things healed themselves in a way they shouldn’t have,” she told Sky News.
“So, urgency, not being able to hold on, needing to go to the bathroom, that kind of physical aspect was horrible.”
Read more on Sky News:
Women ‘failed at every stage’ of maternity care
Mother injured after giving birth breaks ‘silence’
Bereaved parents demand national guidance after failures
She added: “Also on the psychological side, I was diagnosed with PTSD.
“There is no area of my life that has been untouched by this.”
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