NEWS
A New report calls for improved postnatal care
shocking new report by NCT, the UK’s largest
parenting charity, shows new mums are left unprepared and unsupported by the NHS after they’ve had a baby and calls on the NHS to improve postnatal care in the UK. Many women feel their needs aren’t being met, leaving them feeling confused, abandoned and let down. NCT is now calling for immediate improvement to services before it’s too late.
The report Postnatal Care – a Cinderella story? examines women’s experiences of NHS maternity services and is based on a survey of 1260 first time mums¹. The findings show many mums are being let down just when they need services most. Many of those surveyed said they felt helpless, isolated and abandoned by the care they received in hospital and made frequent references to seeing different midwives at each contact, receiving conflicting advice particularly in relation to feeding, staff shortages, insensitivity and even rudeness from healthcare staff.
Of mums surveyed, 42% thought there were only ‘sometimes’ or ‘never’ enough midwives to help them in hospital, as opposed to ‘always’ or ‘mostly’ enough. Furthermore, 57% didn’t get all the emotional support they needed in hospital within the first 24 hours.
In addition, mums who’d had operative births (forceps, ventouse or caesarean) had the greatest gaps in care which is concerning since their needs are the greatest² - 43% of mums who’d had a caesarean said their emotional needs weren’t met within 24 hours to a month after the birth, and 30%, who’d had a
8 nhe
(71%) wanted to see the same midwife throughout their care, but 51% ended up seeing three or more different midwives after discharge from a maternity unit or birth at home.
caesarean found midwives only kind and understanding some of time or never. Postnatal care in a birth centre or after a birth at home, however, was more positively perceived.
The survey shows that the emotional support, physical care and information given to first- time mums are also sadly lacking – less than half (41%) had all the emotional support they needed in the first 24 hours, 56% said they got all the physical care they needed and only 45% received all the information and advice they needed. Plus, despite guidance from NICE to say all women should have a personalised postnatal care plan, 96% were not involved in a plan.
Anne Fox, head of campaigns and public policy, NCT said: “It’s clear postnatal care urgently needs improvement - our report paints a dreadful, shocking picture of care in the UK – we’re letting women and their babies down. Evidence shows that supporting women and babies at this vital time can have a major impact on
future health and learning. Our report recommends NHS trusts and boards need to listen to what local women tell them about the services provided and set objectives for improving postnatal care, agree practical strategies and monitor their progress.”
The report also found when it came to baby feeding, support was inadequate, particularly for mums in hospital. Of those surveyed 52% felt they didn’t get consistent advice about feeding, and less than half of first time mums (45%) said they got all the help and support they needed in the first 24 hours, with similar rates for a week and up to a month after the birth. However, positively, 79% of mums were encouraged to have skin to skin contact in the first hour after birth, which can help with feeding and bonding.
After the birth, most women had a visit from a midwife, health visitor or maternity support worker, with most women receiving a visit three or four times. The majority of women
Anne Fox continues: “Many of the problems these women highlight seem to be due to staff shortages or lack of visits once they had left hospital – and this issue needs to be addressed if the quality of postnatal care is to be improved, particularly for vulnerable women. Being a new mum should be a positive experience and support for mums in those early days and months is vital. Action is needed to improve postnatal care in UK and we’re calling on every health service to work to improve the support provided and end the situation whereby postnatal care is the Cinderella service.”
All recent major maternity policy developments, and the NICE recommendations for postnatal care, have put women’s experiences after the birth under greater scrutiny. However, this report highlights existing postnatal care services are falling short of meeting women’s needs and expectations at a time of tremendous change for them.
In order to ensure that women receive high quality, safe, effective postnatal care that meets their individual needs and their babies, NCT has set out ten steps for all four country governments and local NHS services to put into practice including implementing the NICE postnatal care guidelines and ensuring every woman has a co-ordinating health professional responsible for ensuring she has the right care, at the right time, and a personalised postnatal care plan.
Sep/Oct 10
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92