NHS midwives leave ‘terribly’ understaffed hospitals to work in abortion clinics

Midwives left the NHS to work in abortion clinics because a ‘terrible’ shortage of staff in maternity wards left them with post-traumatic stress disorder.

This was reported by the British Pregnancy Advice Service (BPAS), which includes more than 40 clinics. I that a “significant” proportion of the former midwives who joined them are no longer able to work in NHS hospitals as low pay and working conditions exacerbate staffing problems. Many feel they can no longer safely care for expectant mothers and babies.

Katherine O’Brien, Deputy Director of Communications and Campaigns at BPAS, said: “The experience of midwives working in NHS maternity hospitals is just awful. They just don’t have enough staff. Midwives are moving from providing “secondary” maternity care, including postpartum support, to providing “primary” care, which is simply the opportunity to have a live birth and for the woman and her baby to experience the process.

“They don’t have time to give women the support they need. One of our midwives told me that she thought NHS services had been in decline for more than five years, and while the problems were exacerbated by the pandemic, it was a longstanding systemic problem. Services are not currently safe for women.”

Ms O’Brien said low wages are another reason why women leave jobs and exacerbate staffing shortages that prevent pregnant women from getting personal support in hospitals.

“This experience has become so unpleasant for midwives,” she said. “Complications in childbirth are not noticed early enough, which can lead to an increased risk, for example, of a caesarean section. Our midwives shared how they experienced post-traumatic stress while working in the maternity ward. They don’t even have time to help women breastfeed.

“A significant proportion of midwives who leave the health service and seek abortions tell us they do so because they cannot handle the job in NHS maternity wards. It’s so traumatic. Our midwives were often asked, “Why did you choose to work in an abortion clinic? Isn’t it incredibly difficult, because you trained as a midwife? But for them, they cannot provide the level of care they want in the NHS.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) warned this week that the NHS is ‘terribly attrition of midwives’, with the UK short of at least 2,000 midwives.

A number of shortcomings in maternity protection have been identified in the country.

*I learned that the ongoing investigation into shortcomings in the delivery service at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUHT) would eclipse Shrewsbury as the biggest pregnancy scandal in NHS history. Donna Okenden, the lead midwife who conducted the assessment, this week urged staff members who spoke in the original investigation to do so again. More than 1,500 cases are currently being investigated, sources said, after 1,486 families were tested during a pregnancy assessment led by Ms Okenden in Shrewsbury.

* The NUHT admitted on Wednesday that it was unable to care for the baby and its mother after the baby died just 23 minutes after birth. The trust pleaded guilty in Nottingham Magistrates’ Court to negligence leading to the death of Winter Sophia Andrews in September 2019 and was fined £800,000.

A 2020 investigation found that the baby died 23 minutes and 30 seconds after birth from hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy – a loss of oxygen supply to the brain – which could have been prevented if staff at the Royal Medical Center (QMC) in Nottingham had delivered it. . previously. The Trust’s maternity ward was rated “inadequate” by the CQC during its last inspection in March 2022.

In a statement, Winter’s parents, Sarah and Gary, said: “Multiple inquiries and coroner’s reports have shown that the board of trust that allowed motherhood to continue failed us in the most brutal way. fundamentally unreliable. We hope that this prosecution of the Foundation for its unsafe treatment will finally provide the shock they need to make patient safety a priority and lead to meaningful change.

* On Monday, the fallout from the Shrewsbury scandal continued as the Supreme Court upheld a settlement after the NHS Trust Health Trust of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals took 80 per cent responsibility for Adam Cheshire’s birth injuries and agreed to interim payment. The agreement means that Adam, who was diagnosed with group B strep and meningitis after being born at a Shrewsbury hospital, is eligible for compensation to fund the specialized care and support he needs.

* Meanwhile, Lister Hospital in Stevenage has become the latest hospital whose obstetric care has been deemed inadequate by the Commission on Quality of Care after inspectors found women and babies were not receiving the standards of care “they should expect.” The hospital has received a warning from the East and North Hertfordshire National Health Service Foundation, meaning it is legally required to make improvements.

* After an unannounced two-day visit last week, inspectors also raised concerns about the safety of births at an NHS trust where dozens of babies have died needlessly. CQC threatens East Kent Hospitals Trust with enforcement action to ensure patient protection.

An independent evaluation in October found that at least 45 babies could survive in the trust with better care. Trust said they are working to improve services and have a lot of work to do.

A survey of directors and supervisors of midwifery services, which is part of the college data for the 2023/2024 NHS pay check body, found chronic workforce shortages and problems with maternity services, which often operate safely only because staff are working overtime and overtime. often without pay. Nearly three out of four senior midwives said they found it difficult or very difficult to fill vacancies in their departments, and one in three found it very difficult.

Suzanne Tyler, MD, executive director of RCM, said: “Our biggest fears about where we think maternity care will go are becoming a reality. A chronic shortage of staff affects the morale of midwives and nurses in the maternity hospital and their safety. They are leaving en masse and the government urgently needs to stop this disturbing leak.”

Members of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in Wales are among the NHS workers set to go on strike next month to draw attention to the “growing crisis” in maternity care. In England, midwives simply have not reached the strike threshold.

The CQC’s latest State of the Union annual report shows that 39 percent of maternity wards it inspected in the year ending July 31, 2022 were rated as “in need of improvement” or “inadequate” – the highest throughout the history of observations. . This should have been a wake-up call, but maternal health experts say too little is being done to improve the situation.

James Titcomb, who advocated for improved maternal safety at Morecambe Bay University Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust following the death of his son nine days after his birth in 2008, said I He is “deeply concerned” about the direction of change – or lack of it – in maternity care.

“Data over the past decade show a slow but steady improvement in maternal, stillbirth and neonatal mortality, but recent reports show a worrying reversal: the stillbirth rate is now falling to 2018 levels and maternal mortality is rising sharply. kill, he said.

“It’s not clear at this point what role the pandemic has played in this, but the fact that other indicators, such as the CQC survey on women’s maternity care experiences released earlier this month, also show worsening is very worrying.”

Mr Titcombe said major studies in maternal health — from the Morecambe Bay study in 2015 to the Shrewsbury and East Kent reports, both last year — do not tell the story of unique local “one-shot” errors, but rather highlight the same or system errors. problems arise to varying degrees throughout the maternity care system. “I’m sure the latest investigation into Nottingham’s appalling failures in midwifery is no different,” he said.

“One of the saddest aspects of the more recent pregnancy studies is that they show that the recommendations of the Morecambe Bay study did little to change the pattern of unsafe care that was unfolding, which I think is unfortunately the truth that we are stating in the national level. must accept.

“Following the Morecambe Bay investigation, there has clearly been a failure to implement and implement meaningful and lasting change, and my biggest concern is that if we don’t act differently now, history will repeat itself.”

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said: “We are committed to making the NHS the safest place in the world for any mother to give birth, and we are working closely with the NHS to continue to improve the quality of maternal care for children.” with Trust support teams.

“We have invested £127 million to increase the workforce and improve newborn care. In addition to this £95 million, we will create jobs for an additional 1,200 midwives and 100 midwifery consultants.”