To think British maternity care must be among the worst in the developed world?

[ForestGoblin]

Nurses refusing to watch newborns when a mum needs to poo??? Nurses have got a professional and legal obligation to support patients to receive adequate personal care (not being compelled to poo yourself has got to be rung one of meeting that obligation).

Friends who have given birth in Ireland, france, south Korea, Switzerland were all given support to sleep, recover, be recognised as an injured person in need of recovery time.

British nurses trick new mothers into thinking they can't leave their babies for a minute on a bloody hospital ward (even when they've got numb legs).

Rise up, damnit!

WOW !!! Thanks for this info.
So, even purely from a £ view, we could spend 2x current figures & save £2bn??
Both my experiences were poor.
Ds nearly died. I'm still on crutches.

Be interested to see where that information is from.

I think it depends on where you give birth. Our local Maternity unit is spoken of very highly, unfortunately I had to go somewhere larger as they didn't (possibly still don't) offer the full range of 'services' which larger hospitals do. Overall it wasn't an amazing experience but it was adequate - they were ALL very hard working and looked like they got little rest while on shift. I was offered a short stay in the local place before going directly home but I actually just wanted my own bed after 7 ish days away from home! In all honesty I wouldn't have expected them to watch my baby while I went to the loo, I'd make a point of going when he/she was sleeping (most babies sleep at some point).

I had two babies on the NHS and one in a private hospital in another country.

My after-birth care on the NHS was horrendous. Dehumanising. I feel tearful remembering it.

My after-birth care in the private hospital was an absolutely beautiful experience. I was surrounded by women who were on my side, looking out for me, helping me and my baby. I felt so supported and cared for.

I'm sad that things are still so bad. DD is mid 20's now, but I still remember how unkind some of the nurses were. Not just lack of care, but quite mean when women are still so vulnerable.

This is so sad to read. I had a great experience on the maternity ward - really lovely care during and after giving birth. Midwives couldn’t do enough to help (this was in North Yorkshire - both at Harrogate District Hospital and The Friarage). Food was brought to bed, midwives offered to take baby so I could eat/go to loo, kind and patient breastfeeding coaching.

Really sorry that others have not had the same.

This is absolutely the case.

Part of the question worth asking is why birth has become so medicalised leading to intense care needs for so many births.

NICE guidelines suggesting induction of labour for ALL women at 41 weeks have led to an exponential rise in the need for intensive maternity care.

It is not the norm now that most women arrive at their maternity unit in spontaneous labour, give birth, feel relatively well and go home within 24 hours having been supported with their recovery and chosen method of feeding.

This is more usual:

Woman is ‘told’ she will be induced (hard to resist when the suggestion is that you will be putting your baby at risk if you don’t want this).

Induction either fails (in which case C/S)
or is so intense an epidural is essential.

lack of mobility during labour does not aid progress or enable the baby into the most favourable position for birth.

If the woman is unable to birth her baby/too exhausted to push then there will be an assisted delivery with ventouse or forceps.

If that’s not possible then, again, C/S.

At the end of which women are exhausted and traumatised.

So many things need to change in maternity care and it’s not just about training and retention of midwives.

Agree.

I had to get up to change my baby with blood running down my legs onto the floor. A nurse was in the room with me and sort of looked over and laughed? I was too nervous to ask for help because no one made a move to offer any. I was also so hungry my blood sugar was low and I was shaking because I'd had nothing to eat besides 2 pieces of toast and no coins for the vending machine (went into precipitous early labour so didn't have much packed)

We have the healthcare that reflects our voting choices over the last 13 years

It wouldn't surprise you I
If you saw someo of the posts shared once from their staff room. Absolutely shocking.
They held labouring women in contempt

My NHS births were over 20 years ago and have left me with a life long phobia of hospitals and even going to the Doctor.

I had my 3rd at home without any medical help as the local maternity unit gave us the wrong number to call to get a midwife to attend when the baby was on its way. Eventually called 999 but the ambulance arrived after he was born, thank god everything was ok.

Our local hospital does a 'buffet' breakfast for the mums. On the ward below, before visiting hours. Lots of very new mums having to get in a lift to another ward to collect a slice of toast and a drink and decide whether to leave their baby or try carry it and juggle the breakfast plate and drink and stitches.

You shouldn’t be put in that position though. There should be plenty of staff employed to make sure women are cared for properly.

This is ludicrous. How could anyone think that’s adequate care?

Completely agree that maternity care in this country is absolutely shocking now.

Of course there are huge staff shortages but the staff who are there have no excuse for the awful attitude they so often have. I work in another profession that is very short staffed, struggles to recruit and works with the public. If I spoke to a client in the way they do I'd be fired for sure!

Post natal care when I had my baby 8 months ago was so shocking I reported it to the CQC and turns out they have so many complaints and have already downgraded that hospital once.

I wasn’t even offered food or water! I had to ring constantly for a jug of water, had a section early evening and was given one left over meal at 4/5pm the next day while they were doing my paperwork to leave an hour later.

Not in maternity care we don’t. Postnatal care has been shockingly bad for a lot longer than that. I’m the first to criticise Tory governments but you can’t pin this one on them.

Isn’t our stillbirth rate one of the highest in the developed world and way above some lower income countries?

Even community care is so hit and miss, during my first pregnancy I had some really surly midwives. You would think bedside manner is important in a role like that! Luckily this time I’ve been a bit wiser and I know the one nice midwives works on certain days so I only book my appointments for when I know she will take it.

I've only had one pregnancy which ended in loss at 10 weeks. I was more traumatized and upset by the chaos and inaccessibility of getting care, than the loss itself. Ended up getting private care, which was much better, but totally acknowledge my privilege to be able to afford that. It's really worrying me about having another pregnancy, and putting me off trying again.

When Ds was born it was before widespread use of mobiles. I ended up passing out after a horrendous delivery trying to find a phone to call my mum in tears.

When dd was born, l was left covered head to toe in baby vomit less than 12 hours after a c section. Dh had to clean me. I was just snapped at by the nurses.

Im sure the U.K. is the only place you are left to just get on with it after major surgery.

I'm interested in the Guardian study because it sounds a little fishy. The UK was "second to bottom" from a group of "8 European countries" that were looked at. How were these 8 countries chosen? Were they the 8 best countries or 8 random countries? It's important to know that because if the UK is 7th out of 44 to 51 countries (depending on how you define Europe, some include places like Cyprus and the Faroe Islands) that's not too bad.

So was mine.

Was that luck? I dunno?

But I was very well looked after from the minute I arrived, until 3-4 days later (I can't remember now), after my caesarean.
I had 2 nice HV's as well.

I had my kids in 2002 and 2005. The first one was horrendous and because of that, I was out of hospital within 24 hours after having my second. There was NO way, I was going to go through that first experience ever again.

Reading the stories on here as made me realise that suffering depression after my 1st shouldn't have been a surprise really. I still get upset that I never felt properly bonded with my 1st during the first 12 months of their life - the depression robbed me of that and I'll never know just how much my experience in hospital with some horrible midwives/nurses contributed to that depression. I feel so sad about it still.