Do Maternity Unit Closures Threaten Mother and Baby Safety?
Is maternity provision in the UK reaching crisis point with falling numbers of midwives and increasing births?
New research into maternity units
Recent statistics, obtained by the Labour Party, and reported by The Times, show that approximately 50% of hospitals in England and Wales closed their maternity units - in some cases for more than 24 hours - due to lack of capacity on at least one occasion last year.
Forty-two hospital trusts acknowledged that they had been forced to turn away women in labour with some shutting their doors on multiple occasions.
In total, admissions of women in labour were refused 382 times last year because maternity units did not have the capacity to deal with any more.
Is this a result of increasing numbers of births or an increasing shortage in NHS capacity?
Pressure on midwives
The pressure on maternity care implied by these statistics is further emphasised by data released in June of this year that shows not only that increasing numbers of midwives are leaving the profession due to pressure and pay restraints, but that fewer are applying to join the profession meaning that job vacancies are less likely to be filled. This situation is likely to worsen due to recent government plans to remove bursaries for midwifery students and impose full tuition fees.
The 'Better Births' initiative, being trialled across several NHS trusts, calls for 'continuity of care' and 'safer care' for pregnant women but this is less likely to occur where planned provision turns out not to be available and the pregnant woman has no idea where she will give birth to her baby.
Impact on maternity care
Whilst it is possible that those women in labour who have been refused admittance to one maternity unit may be transferred to an alternative maternity unit, it must be a cause of considerable anxiety at a time when the prospective mother needs to feel supported and remain calm.
It is also an indication of the pressures on maternity services in the UK which can only compromise the quality of maternity care.
Oversights and procedural failings are more likely to occur when maternity units are under pressure. At a time when perineal trauma is on the increase and the Royal College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians has identified that it is an issue that needs to be addressed, increasing pressure and shortages of qualified staff can only add to the existing problems.
Poor Quality Maternity Care
If you have suffered permanent trauma and on-going symptoms due to substandard care during the birth of your baby, you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation.
Contact Glynns Solicitors to discuss your experience.
Please call us on 0800 234 3300 (or from a mobile 01275 334030) or complete our Online Enquiry Form.
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