Report published on women’s satisfaction levels with maternity care in Wales
June 19, 2009
Most women are satisfied with maternity care in Wales with services generally meeting an appropriate standard, says a report published this week by the Auditor General. But the report also highlights some specific problems including the way that labour is managed in some trusts and dissatisfaction with support for infant feeding.
The report includes a survey of new mothers and although many women questioned were satisfied with their experience, a significant minority felt they were not always treated with dignity and respect or kindness and understanding.
Antenatal care generally meets good practice guidelines, but some women do not receive enough check-ups and there is generally low attendance at antenatal classes. The report also shows that women in some trusts tend to receive too many scans whilst trusts are not yet offering the most up-to-date screening for Down’s syndrome.
The way labour is managed in some NHS trusts gives rise to concern. A significant minority of women felt they were left alone and worried during or shortly after labour and some trusts could do more to prevent unnecessary Caesarean sections. Women were least satisfied with the postnatal phase of care, with over a third of women being unhappy with the quality of support they received for infant feeding.
The report calls for the Assembly Government to develop an overall strategy for maternity services in Wales. This would help the planning of maternity services which is currently being undermined by the lack of a clear vision and poor information about the cost and quality of care.
The strategy would also provide a comprehensive source of guidance aimed at removing some of the specific problems with maternity services, such as the failure to meet recommended staffing levels in some trusts and the low level of staff training in many trusts.
The report called Maternity Services makes a number of recommendations for improvement, by calling on:
- the Assembly Government to develop a comprehensive strategy for maternity services, highlighting good practice and offering guidance on local service planning
- new local health boards to assess staffing requirements for delivering safe and high quality services
- local health boards to make sure that all maternity staff receive the necessary clinical training
- local health boards to review their training programmes to ensure that there is sufficient focus on the principles of respect, well being, choice and dignity
- the Assembly Government, in partnership with the NHS in Wales and other key stakeholders, to agree a standard set of data that is routinely collected, monitored and used to support service improvement.
Entry Filed under: Babyfeeding, Maternity Services, Parliamentary update, Pregnancy and birth, Wales. Tags: Antenatal Care, dignity in labour, NCT, satisfaction levels.
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1.
Mary Newburn, NCT | June 19, 2009 at 10:15 am
The NCT is pleased the majority of women in Wales are satisfied with their maternity care. However, it is concerning to hear that some women were left alone in labour and there was a lack of good antenatal and, in particular, postnatal care. We welcome plans for a national strategy to provide guidance on good service provision. Urgent action is required in those areas where maternity services fall short of reasonable expectations. All women should be able to expect one-to-one midwifery care during labour; the birth environment should be fit for purpose and quality postnatal care should be provided including support on baby-feeding
2.
jane A expectant mum | August 10, 2009 at 10:22 am
I am presently in early stages pregnancy with my 2nd child and I have to say the level of assistance for basic information is high as you do receive a great deal of papers, information etc. However with this second pregnancy I am over the age of 35 and overweight and the pressure you feel is overwhelming. the lack of guidance for down’s syndrome as far as local health authority don’t offer the new type screening so you need to find private and the lack of consultants available in any area to do that. The tight timescales to achieve it all in. In some areas I found I was advising some of the carers rather than the carers advising me. The maternity ward locally is bursting with people and a conveyor belt of mums and babies i can only liken it to a refugee camp and a number of nurses and carers frantic every hour of every day to help. I am so happy that I don’t plan on having any more children after this as I couldn’t bear to endure this all again. I would want to talk friends out of having children as the level of service available is deplorable for this modern day and our government should be ashamed.