25% of women feel they do not receive the care they need during labour

Posted 15/05/2012

Research for the Royal College of Midwives has reported that one in four women do not have a midwife present during the crucial moments of giving birth and when the woman felt she needed a midwife present. It was recognised that different women have different needs, but the worry was that a quarter of women surveyed felt that they had not received the care they needed during labour.Sandra Patton, Head of Medical Injury at Ashtons Legal comments: “Of course every woman’s expectations and experience of giving birth are different but it is disappointing that so many women feel their care is in some way lacking, very often due to over stretched staff trying to cope in the most difficult of situations. Sadly we see cases where the failure of the midwife to be present during labour has led to tragic consequences, and it must be a priority for the Government to ensure there are an adequate number of midwives to ensure the safety and well-being of all mothers and babies”.