To be deflated by the total indifference to harm being normalised on maternity wards

[RedToothBrush]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgvl8l5q0xo

This is MN.

And there seems to be a total indifference and acceptance to maternity care being completely substandard in this country?

Why aren't we completely enraged by this on MN?

Why have we become so passive and why have we rolled over with a seeming attitude that we should almost just deal with it and its not worth complaining anymore?

65% of maternity services in england were judged to be failing. 65%

Why are we not putting pressure for this to be a much higher priority.

The cost to the public sector from compensation related to maternity services is astronomical. It makes up 60% of all negligence claims. This is billions of pounds just on compensation.

This doesn't include the billions spend on care as a result of those harms to women and children.

This is something like £8.2 billion in the year 2021/22. ONE YEAR.

We keep talking about cuts and budget blackholes, but this makes no sense. A lack of investiment in adequate services is costing us billions per year. Savings that COULD be made with better care.

Why isn't this a priority, and why isn't there more women on MN standing up and saying this absoleutely isn't ok? There's plenty of threads about immigration or wars or private schools etc all the time. But maternity services? Tumbleweed.

MNHQ has run a campaign on post-natal care in the past and the situation seems to be getting worse not better. Its dreadful.

So yeah.

Here's a thread to shout about how bad it is. Cos I'm really pissed off. No one seems to be listening.

DS's head was really small (he was 5lbish) and I still needed an episiotomy so I can well believe it.

Sorry I don't understand. Do you mean you can believe you needed an episiotomy with a small headed child?

I may not have explained it well. Human babies heads, even small ones, are still large to pass out of the birth canal, compared to other species and have to do lots of turning. They are more likely to need help and they are more likely to not fit right. It's just not true that birthing humans is easy because it's 'natural'

I don't think anyone suggested they were done for fun or even complained about them.

Most of the complaints here focus around inadequate pain relief, poor basic care, zero compassion, non existent post natal service, being ignored or accused of lying...

No wonder there are so many posters suffering from ptsd, needing therapy etc.

What? No, I mean I can well believe that a lot of the difficulties come from babies head size versus the size of the birth canal/our body's capabilities because I struggled to expel DS naturally even though he was small. I thought it was fairly clear that I was agreeing with you...

So sorry, I did misunderstand. I think I was expecting everyone to disagree with me

For me, because you only find out about it once pregnant and then have a relatively short time of not that much contact to see issues before abruptly you are very distracted and preoccupied with a new baby...and then by a toddler etc, as the experience starts to fade a bit.

Let me dream, but I think Wes Streeting does have this courage. The NHS needs fundamental change.

Exact same situation with me.