Nearly one in five women feel their concerns were not taken seriously by health professionals during labour, according to “alarming” results from a national survey of the maternity experience.
A Care Quality Commission (CQC) survey of almost 17,000 women giving birth across England in NHS settings this year found that 15% felt they were not given appropriate advice or support when they saw a midwife at the start of labour, and 18% said their concerns were not taken seriously.
One in 10 survey respondents said they had been left alone during labor when they were concerned, 7% of which were “late in labor.”
Valerie Amos, who is overseeing the national inquiry into maternity care, said women experienced “unacceptable” maternity careincluding poor communication, lack of empathy and in some cases discrimination against ethnic minority and working class women.
Clea Harmer, chief executive of baby loss charity Sands, said the report was “disturbing and distressing to read” and said urgent action was needed to implement recommendations made to improve care for pregnant women in the US. England.
She said: “The results show that too often pregnant women don't feel listened to when they have problems, or don't take those problems seriously. We know that listening to parents saves lives. So it's particularly worrying that the CQC found these problems have not improved since last year.”
The survey also found that only 57% of people surveyed had “always” been able to ask a member of staff to help them when needed after having a baby, while one in 10 said they were unable to get any help at all.
Despite concerns raised by the survey, the results also showed some improvements in maternal health care. Nearly nine out of every 10 (89%) survey respondents said they were always spoken to in a way they understood, an increase of 1%.
The same proportion of respondents (89%) said they were offered mental health support during pregnancy, up from 83% in 2021.
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Jill Walton, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said it was “deeply concerning” that almost one in five women feel they are not taken seriously when they raise concerns during labor and birth.
Walton said: “It's encouraging to see improvements in several areas: 89% of women said they were always spoken to in a way they could understand, and 81% were given enough time to ask questions during antenatal appointments. These improvements reflect the dedication of midwives working hard to provide quality care.”
“These findings highlight the enormous pressure midwives are under due to chronic workforce shortages. When midwives are overworked, it becomes more difficult to provide the kind of compassionate care that allows them to truly listen and respond to concerns, especially when they are often caring for multiple women at once.”
Dr Yotsna Vohra, director of research, programs and impact at maternity charity Tommy's, said the survey results were “further evidence that families are becoming frustrated.
“Just a day after Baroness Amos’s initial findings were published [from the National Maternity Investigation]which have caused deep concern, the results of this survey are further evidence that families are becoming frustrated,” Vohra said.
“Pregnancy should be a time when women and those giving birth feel safe and cared for. These results clearly show that too many people are not being heard and are left alone at critical times.”
Duncan Burton, chief nursing officer for England, said: “It is clear that too many women are still not getting the care they need, despite the signs of improvement these results show, and I am determined to ensure that every woman and their family is heard and receives safe and compassionate care.
“We have established dedicated teams across the country working to improve services and are introducing daily monitoring of the performance of each maternity service to ensure we can intervene quickly if problems arise.
