Are Maternity Failings the “new normal”?.

Following scandals at maternity units such as Shrewsbury and Telford and East Kent, new reports suggest that maternity failings are becoming a systemic issue in the UK, and are occurring across the country. The BBC have reported that harm is now ‘at risk of being normalised in maternity care’ (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgvl8l5q0xo).

Pregnancy and childbirth should be a positive experience for all those involved. It is the duty of medical professionals in maternity units to ensure that all women receive the care and support they need. When care falls below acceptable standards, this can have disastrous negative effects on the health of women and babies, and also lead to long-lasting psychological harm. Women have the right to feel safe and secure when receiving maternity care, but as a consequence of systemic and widespread failings in maternity services, women in the UK are no longer being afforded this right.

A recent investigation by the CQC has highlighted that key issues with maternity care include:

• Caesarean section delays
• staffing shortages
• poor and unsanitary ward conditions
• monitoring and recording inconsistencies
• poor leadership and management
• triage problems
• discrimination against ethnic minorities

The investigation, which reviewed two-thirds of maternity units not inspected since March 2021, revealed that 65% of maternity units were failing on safety. 

Many women across the UK have experienced failings and negative outcomes in relation to their maternity care. Maternity failings in the UK have left women feeling ‘traumatised’ with around one in 20 mothers developing PTSD following pregnancy and childbirth. In other cases, children are being left with life changing physical injuries following failings during labour. These failings have led to a growing number of clinical negligence claims arising in relation to pregnancy and childbirth.

Calls are now being made to the government of the critical need to improve standards of maternity care in the UK. CQC specialist care director Nicola Wise argues that the shortfalls in care are not tolerated in other NHS services, and thus they should not be tolerated and become the norm in maternity care. Among the wider theme of an under-funded and under-resourced NHS, there is a need for the government to invest more into NHS maternity units.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has commented that findings of maternity failings are ‘a cause for national shame’ and is tasked to bring about reform and change to the NHS.

If you believe you have experienced failings in relation to your maternity care please contact our Clinical Negligence Team, in confidence, on 0800 652 3371 to discuss your situation further.