Are you sure the argument is that mothers are their own worst enemies on the maternity ward? Seemed to me that there was a strong suggestion that those damned Africans and Eastern Europeans had a hand to play in the failings of the NHS.
And really, her cases in point were fairly ludicrous. The woman with high blood pressure having fry up breakfasts? Isn't it more likely that her high BP was a result of pregnancy itself? I doubt that foregoing her breakfast would have made much difference. Actually, I think being on a maternity ward with a DM journo would be a far more significant factor in rocketing BP
The blood-stained nightie in the shower cubicle? Well if it's a ward in which women usually only stay for a couple of nights, it's fairly likely the woman hadn't known where to dispose of it, and with the pitiful understaffing there was probably no one around to ask. Ultimately the responsibility of cleaning and tidying comes down to the hospital, not the patients.
And regarding the general antagonism between staff and patients, surely that is a result of patients needs and wishes being ignored and dismissed?
I 'refused' to be induced at the beginning of my labour (I was group B strep + and my waters had broken before contractions had started). I wanted to receive the ABs (as recommended) but wanted to be given some time for my labour to start naturally (which it did within a few hours).
I was hassled and harried throughout that labour to have drips, monitoring, augmentations etc etc when all I needed was a bit of time.
After my 22 hour labour I then had to beg and plead for something to eat, because I'd inconveniently given birth after the evening meal. All that was available to me was a frigging ham sandwich which I ate despite being vegetarian.
DH and I probably came across as pushy, demanding and awkward, but quite frankly we needed to be.