to wonder if anyone actually cares about choices in pregnancyand birth and the state of maternity services in the UK?

[TeggieCampbeggBlegg]

Do women want to have continuity of care?

Do women care about who looks after them in labour? Do women want to be cared for by the same midwife (or midwives) before, during snd after, birth?

Do women want to be offered choice or just be told what to do?

I've posted tonight in SN and in Childbirth topics

DC1 - left brain injured due to shocking maternity care in delivery. Completely and utterly avoidable.

DC2 - promised continuity of care, assistance with severe anxiety. Found out today the consultant who promised better care has gone ahead and booked my ELCS without any discussion on dates. As yet I also have no MH support. There is no MH support for pg women in our PCT. I'm fairly sure they are breaking NICE clinical guidelines.

Good maternity care isn't just about the birth, its about being supported during the pregnancy as well.

I had different midwives throughout. It didn't bother me. I also had a straightforward labour, and good birth experience. Perhaps if it had been different, I'd care more.

The main thing I care about is for a woman to have a right to choose pain relief (eg epidural) early on during labour - why suffer unnecessarily? Ditto elective C-section in advance.

It is good to have the same midwife ante-natally but highly unlikely you will see the same one at delivery - don't mind this as people do have to change shift anyway.
Kindness and competence are the most important factors as others have said.