Is it time for a CHILDBIRTH REVOLUTION?

As scandal rocks maternity wards, there are calls for change

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An investigation that found a catalogue of failings at a hospital trust has shone a light on a dangerous culture in maternity wards.

The Ockenden review, the result of a five-year independent inquiry into Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, found that more than 200 babies and nine mothers had died needlessly as a result of catastrophic shortcomings.

The damning report said there was a ‘fixation on natural births’ with mothers reporting that they had to ‘beg’ for a cesarean, a procedure that medical staff discouraged in a bid to increase the rate of natural births.

This, Donna Ockenden claimed, resulted in babies ‘dying during birth or shortly after’.

Shockingly, this isn’t a recent epidemic. This culture was firmly established at Shrewsbury – and undoubtedly at other hospitals and health providers – for decades. It has been reported that even the National Childcare Trust website had articles which said ‘natural labour’ would leave mothers more ‘satisfied’.

As maternity services are scrutinised and failings exposed, it would seem that change is needed to save lives. A woman speaks to two women who had a baby a decade apart about their experiences of childbirth.

UK vs Europe*

• Cyprus had the highest rate of planned caesareans at 38.8%, followed by Italy with 25%
• Planned caesarean rates in England made up 9% of all births