A British parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma has called for a national plan to improve maternity care, declaring that good care is “the exception rather than the rule”.
Published this week, the inquiry report detailed shocking stories including of mothers being left to lie in their own blood and urine, or having their concerns about their baby’s health dismissed, which in some cases resulted in death.
The report found “poor care is all frequently tolerated as normal, and women are treated as an inconvenience”, reports The Independent.
Among the included recommendations is the creation of a maternity commissioner reporting to the Prime Minister.
The report was led by two MPs, Theo Clarke and Rosie Duffield.
Clarke said the “horrific” testimony “has shone a light on how we must do so much better when it comes to maternity services”.
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the experiences of more than 1 300 women who have given evidence to the inquiry were “simply not good enough”.
Maria Caulfield, the Women’s Health Minister, apologised to women affected by birth trauma, saying that “maternity services have not been where we want them to be”.
She added that rates of neonatal deaths and stillbirths are coming down after reaching their highest point in two decades. “If you actually look at the neonatal deaths and stillbirth deaths, they are falling by roughly between 20% and 30%, so the measures we are putting in are working.”
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