Maternity services are 'shockingly poor' in UK says damning report 

They can say they're exhausted all they like, but it doesn't excuse bullying patients and treating women giving birth with contempt. It doesn't excuse having a receptionist shout at me for wanting my partner in the room whilst i have an examination because i have a history of CSA. It doesn't excuse hearing the staff talking about my autism in a derogatory way. It doesnt excuse being denied physio for PGP thats getting worse as i get heavier because they arent taking my pain levels seriously. I work for the NHS covering a service by myself. Do you not think i dont know how tired we are? How underpaid? Underresourced? Ive never once taken that out on my patients. Ever. Its a disgrace and i think its that we admit that some of the staff that are left now are just not very nice and have only stayed because they know their attitude wont carry them in any other field. Whereas the NHS closes ranks and protects toxic and incompetent staff.

After 3 children I can absolutely attest to the fact that maternity care in this country is absolutely atrocious

My wife’s experience was extremely traumatic. I do not wish it upon anyone.

Maternity nurse told us our baby wouldn't survive due to too low down in womb. Said we would 100% have a miscarriage. She told us just to pray and in Gods hands with no real empathy. We sat in that car after that meeting contemplating do we just abort with the advice we were given... We've now celebrated her 2 year old birthday a few weeks ago. Maternity services in this country are appalling beyond belief and we could list other terrible experiences.

Everything in the Uk is breaking down and degrading.

Anyone who's been in hospital knows how scary and abusive those places can be.

Dude was talking about how women should be listened to, then he repeatedly interrupted and talked over the woman he was interviewing.

The midwives can be so evil when a fellow women is at her most vulnerable

I had two of my children in Germany and my youngest in England... There are worlds in between. I was literally sent home less than 24 hours after a c section. In Germany they keep you in about five days, even if it's an ordinary birth without complications. The nurses help you recover from the birth, look after baby, you don't need to bring anything for baby, clothes, nappies etc is provided. You're sent home with loads of freebies and you get a 24/7 number for a midwife in case you need more help. Here I felt like I was inconvenient to the nurses and hospital.

These personal stories are awful and shouldn't have happened. However, remind me which party has been in government for the last 14 years. The Tories have always hated the NHS and have always chronically underfunded it, both in terms of material resources and recruitment, training and retention of experienced staff. That's where the real responsibility for the decline in services lies.

I think the most shocking part about this to me is that all these heartwrenching stories sound familiar to me. Like ive heard them before. They are just like multiple birth stories I've heard from friends and family. This kind of treatment is widespread. In my county, EVERY maternity service is rated as inadequate.

And this is AFTER they locked Lucy Letby away.

Maternity care in the UK is a disgrace. I remember a specialist nurse having a go at me whilst tending to my premature baby. Such a lack of understanding of a new parent in a very emotional and difficult situation, always haunts me that I didn’t say anything to her or her seniors. Happy to say my baby is now 8 and is the best gift god ever gave me.

When you don't have enough staff you CANNOT look after everyone properly.

⁠I gave birth in May last year. The service was absolutely incredible by the NHS. My partner and I couldn’t stop talking amongst ourselves about how incredible they are. It depends where you are. I’m in Scotland don’t live this scare or stress you.

my midwife left me when I was 10cm, my husband and step sister nearly delivered my son, she came back in and I screamed at her I am PUSHING, where have you been??! She said no you're not. I was distraught! My son got stuck and I needed an emergency C-Section soon after. They also let me go 36 hours with waters broken, which left me and my son open to infection risk. PALS were so unhelpful, I ended up being shoved off and offered therapy, that's fine, but it solves nothing.

Thank God never lost a baby, but I can relate to the mistreatment of some maternity nurses unfortunately.

The horrfying thing is that this COMPLETELY echoes my experience of non-maternal medical treatment over the course of decades - just treatment related to problems that are predominantly female medical problems.

terrible timing for this to come out when im 13 weeks pregnant with my first. but i am glad to know the truth. under absolutely NO circumstances will i tollerate being gaslit or spoken to like rubbish when i am in labour. i would much sooner deliver my child alone with just the help of my husband and mother. i will only listen to what my body tells me to do

Everything in this country is finally starting to break down but nothing is going to get better for us 😟

Maternity labor in a rural setting in Pakistan with an uneducated but extremely experienced local midwife is far better than here in UK as my mom gave birth to 6 siblings with no complications, great aftercare and healthy diet. We had three kids between 2015 and 2020 absolute trauma and horror.

my sister got sepsis after her first baby due to negligence at Homerton Hospital, she was sent home not knowing and had to be re-admitted after two weeks at home. my sister in law also had such a bad experience at Royal London Hospital that she had her next 3 babies at home.

The whole UK services including judiciary are disgusting constantly violating essential human rights, filled of apathy and totally out of touch.

Generally, the health care is substandard in the UK. We foreigners travel home for medical treatments.

I can well believe this after my own birth trauma and being ignored as i repeatedly raised concerns that something was very wrong, i was ignored and both myself and my daughter nearly died that night. My body hasnt been the same since.

I am crying at this because after losing my daughter, I was disrespected by one staff member. I had my son a year after and I saw first hand again the disregard for many other women in pain.

Beggars belief we are funding other maternity wards and programs to train staff for other countries but we can’t help our own says it all very sad indeed.

I almost died from their incompetence. Is the NHS hiring to tick the boxes and not providing proper care/training/priorities. A+E stops being emergency services when a Stroke patient arrives with the ambulance and waits for over 12h to be seen

I recently qualified as a maternity care assitant and I was horrified by how horrible and psychopathic the staff are ,I worked in other sectors of healthcare but maternity was awful , I recently spoke to a nurse practice amd she said the same thing its full of bullies .. lots of narcissistic midwives who drive kind staff away . If you want the sectors to change start cracking down on staff who are not fit to work in certain areas. Some of the midwives were just awful people. You get the odd earth angels but it's a cut throat environmental amd they wonder why they can't retain staff .

I’m a former NICU nurse and frequently noticed the stark disparity in care between our unit and the maternity ward, just beyond a set of double doors. The difference wasn’t due to the staff competency in this case but the funding allocated. I distinctly remember taking a baby back to her mother; the moment I entered their ward, the contrast in temperature from our climate-controlled environment was striking. It was sweltering, and I couldn’t fathom how the women, babies, and midwives endured the heatwaves. Returning to my unit, I felt distressed and guilty. This experience pales in comparison to others I’ve heard, but it underscores the lack of support. Even today, women’s healthcare remains a low priority, which is incredibly disheartening.

Poor poor Britain. Literally poor poor Britain, sliding away to a 2nd rate country within a prosperous region in the world.

My midwife illegally took blood from my placenta and tested it for drugs, when it came bk negative she claimed to the baby ward she was worried about my MH and placed a hold on my discharge for 3 days when they finally did let me go the ward sis took me in an office and told me everything LEEDS GEN INFER

3rd world experience twice here in Scotland. Disgraceful. Too busy with life to complain so they got away with it.

Funny (peculiar) isn't it, how everything used to work 40 years ago, but now everything is broken.

Shift work influences your welfare. When I had my daughter she was in distress and the nurse didn't do enough and preferred to wait till the end of her shift and handover to the next nurse on shift to deal with it.

My experience in one of UK hospitals 7 years ago was traumatic, disorganised, not enough nurses available post birth, anesthetic administered too late, spent over 12 hours in active labour and some mistakes such as delayed doctor, resulted in myself getting into a critical condition. There was not enough funding and care, there was not enough checks on mothers and babies. Also we are being asked to sign papers that we are happy with the hospital treatment whilst under effect/influence of epidural drugs. No one is available, when trying to call for help. I met many other mothers having a similar experience in other hospitals. It's a disgrace. Its s a very rough way to deal with new mothers and welcome a new child into the world.

Perhaps the NHS is being purposely neglected to push the general public into privatized healthcare. We’d have to pay expensive health insurance like the USA 💔

My wife gave birth to my son last year in Glan Clwyd Hospital in North Wales and all the staff were fantastic.

I never forget visiting someone at Homerton Hospital, and there was a woman who had a Caesarian she was left to rot in her bed with visible blood pouring out of her wound. She couldn't hold her baby, the staff completely ignored her, her husband was distraught, the other mothers dared not say anything because they knew if they did they would get neglected and when I questions the state of the woman, they made up some BS excuse and threw me out of the ward. The woman I visited caught an infection on her hand from the bedding, in fact all the maternity clothes she wore in the hospital she had to throw in the bin, she felt like she was being bitten. I think some of the NHS staff are mentally ill, they get a buzz out of people dying.

When my water broke at 15 weeks, they said they would test to see if it was amniotic fluid. After that, they made me sit in the waiting room for 7 hours and then said we couldn't check if it was my amniotic fluid because the lab had closed. They sent me home, and the next day my baby died, and I miscarried.

Horrible. And yet, not a single person in key decision making positions will be punished for this. Especially those who lead NHS.

A relative's normal pregnancy turned out a baby with Cerebral Palsy due to negligence by the provider. She was never compensated for the injury to the new born and completely ignored

The hospitals and staff are under resourced and overwhelmed. The NHS was once the gold standard of universal healthcare. Now it sounds like a basket case.

My care at St Helier hospital in London was great except for a consultant who was patronising me and trying to make me feel bad, saying how anxious I was and that the hospital had been in place for 100 years, because I was asking questions regarding my C-section with placenta previa.

3 young children my wife gave birth to, first two were born in London and Birmingham, 4 days of painful induced labor, had her left fighting for her life for 12 days in ICU, Second children in Birmingham, cut the wrong vessel while we faced bullying, racist and intimidating behaviour including wife being asked to inject a shot herself in belly as she hesitated. Maternity in UK has been a horrifying experience in UK, even though we aftercare was even worst as mom battled respiratory disease for a year, sepsis, facial scars and serious depression while health visitors had no care and compassion towards mom totally ignored her. I thought dentistry was an issue here.

My wifes experience was not good. Packed wards next to closed wards, only two nurses to look after 18 women, they were rushed off their feet all day and night and she was sent home too early because they needed the bed.

I was fobbed off and sent home on three occasions being told I had "post baby blues" or "exhaustion" midwives told me to calm down and patronised me as being a first time mum following a ridiculous prolonged labour in which i was left pushing for over 4 hours before a doctor was involved that ended in forceps, episiotomy and third degree tear with severe PPH following which i was in surgery for 4 hours and needed multiple blood transfusions and antibotics. Instead of accepting that advice i presented to A&E and was admitted into critical care in liver and heart failure with severe pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome and needed multiple medication to keep me alive. I also had multiple blood clots (PEs) in my lung with a lung infarct. It left me traumatised and i missed the first two weeks of my sons life, he was sent home with my husband. Thankfully I am a medic and was able to diagnose myself and push for help or I know I would not be here today. It took years before I built up the courage and had my second and the difference between my care was just night and day. I was so well looked after and I had no complications.

My baby got pneumonia after birth. They took him to ICU for a few days and I was recovering from a C section. They did nothing to keep me with him. I waited around 2 hours for a porter to take me to him, in the end I walked all the way there when I shouldn’t have done. The surgeon who conducted my c section was cold and talked about me as if I wasn’t in the room, he didn’t explain anything to me. It was an emergency c section as my son’s heartbeat dropped so it was traumatic enough. There were fantastic staff, mainly the nurses and student nurses with plenty of compassion. I just don’t know why the doctors are so jaded.

I return to the hospital after 18 hours of losing water and they made me wait in the collider for 6 hours while I was experiencing contractions and terrible pain, there were tens of other women and their partners waiting and only one plastic chair was available where I could seat. It was a horrible start. At the ward the midwife was so rude she was making disgraceful comments when I screamed with pain. It all got so complicated I was taken to the theatre. At the Theatre though doctors were amazing. They treated with care for all of us me, my husband and baby.

Remember when a young nurse said when i was in labour that i have to control my emotions 😂😂😂 i screamed from pain but they refused giving me any epidural and when finally got me to the theatre the nurse said she will check on me in 2 hours. By look at my face she changed her mind and checked in 20 mins and was shocked i was fully dilated.

I’m terrified of the hospital, I’ve struggling immensely with physical and mental health since. I’ve aged so quickly, I wasn’t listened to. I had a C-section with only one man in the room. He spoke some horrifying things. He knew trauma in child birth was dangerous. I didn’t realise how dangerous back then. He’s ruined my life. Along with all the people who didn’t listen to me. I was 23. I’m 28 now... 6 years of my life has been wasted by trauma, ptsd, nightmares. It’s constant.

After being in labour for 24 hours with no pain relief I received a bad tear. I was left in stirrups for over an hour with midwives arguing with doctors about whose job it was. I was hurried out afterwards without so much as a cup of tea. My stitches were done badly causing an infection that lasted months

I had a c section - and the surgical maternity ward where amazing - it’s only when they put me in the labour wards. I was treat like I was a burden. Starting with allowing the door to hit my bed as they wheeled me through the corridors - I felt like my insides were going to burst through the incision. I have never felt a pain like it/ My first few days as a mother - I was neglected emotionally and physically. My partner/dad wasn’t aloud to stay with me to help me - despite him wanting to. And despite me being on a bay on my own - I was like I wasn’t there - I was in agony . No correct pain relief - whenever I buzzed for some water I was made to feel I was being a time waster - and the health care assistant would make sure they put it in a spot I couldn’t reach. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t even touch my baby - when he cried. I was just left to cry! Lonely and in pain. And boy so confused with all the hormones. Wishing I could be happy and take being a new mum in. It’s 3 years on and I still feel traumatised - I cry thinking about it - and so sad that I was treat with so little care - knowing that many mums will have gone through similar. When the ward got busier I saw militant old health care assistants shouting at new mums for using a towel to cuddle her baby - why not use a towel? Who cares? new mums should be nurtured and taken care of. It’s such a special moment in life. -and these places make most woman’s first days as a mum misery!!! I was left in a bay on my own - and my partner came rushing in on the morning - cos I didn’t want him to worry - I called him crying I needed him. he had to stand at the door until 10am not allowed to see me or his baby ! He came in to see a health care assistant searching for holidays on the computer - whilst I was crying in pain and needing help to go to bathroom. There are a lot of people who do these jobs do not care! I’m so sorry to mums who have sad experiences! This gov has royally shafted the NHS!

Recalling my birth experience. My midwives were amazing but one the nurses treated me badly, leaving me in tears. Our NHS really needs improvement and our politicians are doing nothing.

I pay over 40% of my salary as tax in the UK, I worked for 18 years, never needed NHS until I gave birth.... And they butchered me, permanently scarred me, traumatised me !! I wish we did not have NHS, rather I could pay less tax and go private ! NHS is a joke in this country! Incompetent staff with zero compassion all around from the management to doctors to nurses...!!

OverNight stay care in the hospital for new mums is atrocious. The head night nurse wouldn’t let the other night nurse help me with my newborn baby that id given birth to that day, she said I have to do it myself as I need to get used to looking after my baby and get used to not having help with my baby. My pad was drenched in blood and not changed and when I called the nurse for help I was told off by the head nurse for pressing the help button. If the services are so exhausted, why can’t they let a family member stay overnight with the mum and baby to provide that extra care if the night nurses can’t/don’t want to?

They almost killed me during delivery and while i was getting unconscious due to blood loss, they told me they put wrong stitches on me . Later on i found my vaginal cut was opened and i have to go for another surgery after 10 months

Rishi responding like: "it's just a normal anxiety of life. Get back to work asap".

I ain’t going to lie I have had a great service with every birth of my girls can’t say the same about when my second baby I was left on the cold floor could feel the air going up me while the nurse stayed away writing notes sitting in the chair next to me however the loss of my last baby has been so traumatic and I believe it’s coz of the covid jabs

Not enough midwives ,mothers choice to have a C-section . Previously sections were done for emergency reasons not on demand ,basically double the amount of work with the same amount of staff 😢

I gave birth in Queen Elizabeth hospital and I had the most traumatic experience of my life. They made me suffer for almost 2 days in pain and at the end ended up having emergency c section

Traumatised mothers are not in the position to raise a complaint - so long it shall continue.

I was left with PTSD after my last birth 8 years ago. It was horrendous. I went through horrors with the actual labour after being talked into an induction I didn’t need which ended up in an emergency csection but the postnatal stay afterwards with my poorly little girl was the worst. I remember being left in agony (happened a lot) , whilst she screamed and screamed. I remember pressing the bell to call the midwives because I couldn’t get up to reach her after my operation and they ignored me whilst they were laughing, drinking tea and eating biscuits in a room I could see them in! Pretty sure not one midwife was caring for patients as the room was full! Luckily another mum who was mobile got up and passed me my sick baby (who was in and out of neonatal) otherwise I don’t know what would have happened. I was told by the midwives to stop crying during the night from my birth trauma as other women on the ward were coping just fine (not that they’d gone through what I had). They told me I was being ridiculous. I had to beg for help because I was left leaking blood all over for hours. My notes were vague and never mentioned the MH issues I experienced in there, the problems they put me through and even the notes around my baby with a bad infection were sparse. I never would have even seen the notes (as they were taken out of my green folder) if it wasn’t for being pregnant now. It’s taken 8 years to find out what happened and how badly they recorded it. The whole thing was so unprofessional and negligent.

Is there not a single public service (except Westminster et al) not in poverty ?

When a family acquaintance died due to negligence whilst delivering her twins. Having multiple conversations with women who had near death experiences, made me fearful to have children.

3 and a half weeks in the hospital, trying to have an 11 pounds baby naturally. Got admitted with high blood pressure at 35 weeks.. you can imagine how dangerous that was for me and the baby.. they tried pills, broke my water with a rod, the baby was just not ready to come out. In the end skyrocketed blood pressure and had an emergency cesarean. I was passed out for 2 days. A terrible midwife told me off because when I got my senses back, I was asking for water.. extremely dehydrated and weak... i forgot to say during the operation they had to do adrenaline shots as I was burning up with fever.. my husband was crying as the machines were beeping. My heart beat was too low... that is my experience from NHS

Both my childbirths were traumas. After the first I thought there’s no way it would happen again but it did. I could never risk my life and my baby’s like that with a third. I love the nhs but I hate what’s happening to it.

Don't worry everyone, at least the NHS are making progress by replacing the terrible and discriminatory word "breastfeeding" with the more inclusive word "chestfeeding"...

What became of Britain is quite shocking and it’s only getting worse.

This interview needed a different interviewer. Someone able to demonstrate more empathy. Laura's story is heartbreaking and her words were so powerful - they deserved to be given more gravity.

The lady speaks about her placenta not being tested I’m still waiting for mine it’s been 3months

I have a history of precipitous birth and also have autism, so don't display pain in the usual way. When I came to hospital with my third birth, I had a note stapled to my maternity notes explaining this, and I reiterated it to the triage nurse. I asked for epidural and informed that last time I have given birth on the floor, so I would like her to make sure it doesn't happen again. You know what she said? "Let's hope it doesn't happen". And you know what? It absolutely did! I had no epidural and no one believed me despite I kept telling them that I have history of giving birth too quickly

I'm sorry but people need to understand the absolute horror that midwives have undergone in recent years with all focus being taken from the care they're trying to provide and stupid levels od management above them dictating bs. Two difficult pregnancies, two traumatic labours and births, but the care i received was sound, efficient and by dedicated staff to whom i will be forever grateful. STOP attackint the symptom and look to the cause! Ridiculous management levels, underpaid and overworked staff, demoralised staff and practices, constant passing of the buck. Maternal health has ALWAYS been precarious. My heart to all the mothers, all the babies who have suffered so much. Fathers too. Staff too. No good midwife wants to lose a mother or an infant 😢 ❤

I’m still suffering with ptsd from the recovery of my second and the very little help I received.

Having 3 experiences with the same hospital over the course of 5 years and losing a child in hospital along the way. I can say NHS maternity is atrocious. Some of the nurses, midwives and doctors are amazing. But they are fighting a losing battle. Some of the doctors and midwives you wouldn’t wish on anyone or any child. “You didn’t request a scan” was one of the lines I heard afterwards. “I didn’t know it was my job to ask for a scan to be done to check my child’s heartbeat” I said and got a blank stare back. 14 years of Tory cuts, Tory policies and Tories stripping the carcass has brought us here.

I’ve not given birth, but (TW assault, negligence) have been sexually harassed and violently assaulted by nurses on an open ward with my carer there, no one is doing anything, no one will let my carer give a witness statement, no one will let me send them photos of the bruises, it’s left me bedridden for2 years and some other drs since won’t see me because I’m a “problem patient” I’ve been berated and denied healthcare for having that I tried to go to the police in my notes. I worked in the nhs for years and it’s so so dehumanising now, I’d have been sacked on the spot if I did anything a 10th as bad 15 years ago. My carer, g.p and mental health support worker are being so supportive but no one’s listening to them either. I was so scared when my sister in law went in to have my nephew, I’m so glad she was ok, my brother works in care so he knows what’s up and I’m glad he was there and she was ok. So much solid with any ogling in and giving birth, it’s so vulnerable

So sad to read these comments, I had a lovely experience when I had my son. So sad 😢

My experience was awful in 2012! My family, in medical profession in another country, were shocked of how rubbish was UK maternity care

Is it a "training" fail or a "Managment" fail or a lack of proper leadership?

I spent 48 hrs in labour before they figured out that my daughter was in the wrong position and got cord wrapped around her neck and she started suffocating! I had an epidural injected that damaged my back nerves and forceps that I was not introduced to what it is and the risk it brings! During 48 hrs - no food, just water and every hour 2 paracetamol followed by sickness. My baby nearly died and post labour I had 1.5 years I could not recover with multiple serious infections. The GP did nothing - had to go back to Poland for private treatment. There was no compassion and because I was born in Poland they were treating us like stray dogs but will less respect. I suffered PTSD and never had more children due to the damage they made. I am a higher incomer and seeing hardly earned money going for NIN boils my blood as since I treat my family abroad. The worst care ever received was in the UK! Even USA care is much more decent!

Living in wales my story doesnt count in this. 7years later I was awarded a settlement but no court or real answers. The whole concern procedure is awful

The maternity care is horrific. I have had my two babies, my experience is traumatic.

The way I'm traumatized by my birth experience and no care after...😢I'm just thankful i made it out of surgery alive with my baby. If it wasn't for my extensive medical background n nursing myself n my baby...i dragged myself outa bed within 6 hours post op...because of the state of the unit and the suffering of other mother's...discharged myself couldn't give a toss..horrible staff in the nhs

Why is it shocking? Is there anything left that is not low standard in the UK?

I had a very traumatic experience last Feb 2024 with my labour and birth experience. Until now it’s affecting my mental health.

My heart goes out to this lovely lady . This woman is a voice and strength for so many woman. This woman is incredible. This woman should have been given respect and dignity. This woman is a becon of hope for so many woman . Such a brave woman .

It is absolutely harrowing the care I received during the birth of my first baby. I birthed my baby on the efin floor. I was never listened to by the midwife. She wasn’t there at any time I needed her. I birthed my baby with only my husband. Scary. No help or encouragement was offered from anyone. Bad maternity services. Don’t even get me started when it comes to the experience of coloured women, it’s bone chilling. I want to sue.

Currently pregnant and honestly my care was better during Covid than it is now. It takes several attempts to get through to the Maternity Assessment Unit. I dont have a proper midwife, and the one i do have is so rubbish- I asked her to complete my Maternity Exception Certificate which she said she would and she never did- for that reason Ive gotten 2 penalty charges. At my most recent appointment she didnt bother completing my MATB1 certificate which was needed by my employer so again I ended having to chase and a different midwife ended up doing it for me. Cant even get an answer back or a means of contact for the community midwife to find out about blood test results, glucose test etc nor has anyone bothered to try and contact me to update me on anything. Wait time in MAU was average 5-6 hours. Treating it like "A&E". I can definitely see the downgrade.

I had 2 children in the last 5 years and have to stay the UK maternity care is appalling compared to European countries based on my personal and experience that of my friends. Very little oversight, you'll never meet a doctor, only midwives, who obviously don't have the level of medical education compared to an OB gynecologist, infrequent visits, long waits, extraordinarily unhelpful admin staff who book you in for appointments. UK should sack all the consultants and admin staff at NHS and instead hire more doctors, nurses, midwives etc who are meant to work in a hospital. There are more bureaucrats in NHS than in Brussels!! they're driving NHS into the ground

Basically, they are usless. Me, my whole family were at their peety. I wish my baby girl was not born here in so-called nhs. I was so helpless n do not give excuse of understaff and finance they get enough,.what is lacking is will n passion for work. They are robotic in work. Till today, after 4 months, the pains we suffer haunt us, and it still continues with my newborn. When I raised a complaint to area lead, they just gave me an excuse to speak with the duty manager. Now, at last, someone is bringing this up, but this again reminded me of the horror l went through.

It's not the pandemic. It's Brexit. The staff that held up our NHS left for other EU countries where they are well-paid and do not require expensive visas.

“Is it really...?” YES. It’s called *SEXISM.*

I totally understand my birth 25 years ago was horrific I died for three minutes on the operating table from internal bleeding not picking up after the first operation just after the birth at 32 weeks on ward breech both no drugs told when asked for help an hour before the birth and told I was a lot of trouble. My son is Autistic. That was in Australia 🇦🇺 so I understand and can’t believe it’s all still happening across the world.💔🇦🇺💓

Caring is a human quality if you havent got time to care, your in the wrong job. although Ive seen exactly that behaveiour on a diabetes ward with a Blind gentleman who cried for help to go to the toilet and he was told to just wet the bed , rather than help him and maintain his dignity, he was ignored because they didnt have enough staff. The whole NHS is going to collapse its just a matter of time.

I have had 5 children in Slough. All different ages. From 21 to 5. The experience was terrible for all 5. Begging for pain relief for hours no anesthetist was ever available as they only had 1 in the whole hospital. Forced to go home after 2 hours of giving birth but couldn't walk or even go for a pee.

Sometimes a bit of logic is needed. It’s possible to see when a small Mom is expecting a BIG baby before an unproductive labour is begun. It’s pretty obvious to a person with normal intelligence.

I was saying this in 2022 at queen charlottes we made a complaint but they never replied and they even turn there negative comments off on there page . zero compassion very rude the amount of things that went wrong silly there’s also a culture of not listening to women which on our second pregnancy has just nearly killed my partner she told the staff she was bleeding they told her it’s normal stop worry next thing we know she’s unconscious having a blood transfusion and she might not wake up something needs to change, 90% of the staff in our opinion at queen Charlotte seemed like they hated there jobs and the didn’t feel much better about the mums.

I heard it’s so poor but I was so happy about everything and everyone’s help from first to last of my maternity journey. Actually it depends on that particular person who served her in specially in her hospital.

I am pregnant 21 weeks, around 19 weeks I went to the maternity triage because I had some discharge and I wanted it looked at in case I have an infection. The consultant did a smear like test dry swab. Obviously, I was tensed, and she impatiently was telling me relax you will only make it harder and more painful for you. I understand they couldn't use a lube due to checking for infection, but she didn't have to make me feel it is my fault for being tight as I was tensed, scared, and anxious that it made it hard for me to relax. It made me feel embarrased, guilty, scared - that it was my fault somehow. I had red spotting a few days after, which resulted in another trip to the maternity triage and another smear like test. I now wondered if it was because of the first consultant doing a dry swab forcing into me that made me bleed. I can't even imagine what these women giving birth who had awful experience feel like. This is scaring me when I give birth.

I had horrific birth trauma 10 years ago. I still suffer from flashbacks and physical injury. I want to add my story to these women. I’m tying for another baby now and I’m petrified about the future care I will receive.