Read about the RCM’s verdict on the NHS and how ‘increasing needs and decreasing budgets’ are affecting quality of care.
According to The Royal College of Midwives (RCM), NHS maternity services are “reaching crisis point” but in fact parents have been there for some time and things aren’t getting better any time soon.
When quality of care is affected it is parents and babies who bear the brunt.
Our recent report, Support Overdue, exposed the current crisis in maternity services caused by low staffing levels and now the RCM has sounded the alarm over the crisis to come as over one third of midwives get close to retirement.
“Midwives have to respond to increasing needs and decreasing budgets. When quality of care is affected it is parents and babies who bear the brunt,” said Elizabeth Duff, NCT Senior Policy Adviser. “The Government should listen to parents and professionals, support high quality maternity services and stop risking the safety of new mums and babies.”
It includes the fact that almost one in five women (18%) did not see a midwife as often as they needed postnatally, resulting in delayed diagnoses of health problems at a critical time for mothers and babies.
