This
article on the BBC is interesting reading Pasted it below also.
NHS maternity care varies widely
An independent review of maternity services in England has highlighted huge variations in the quality of care. Around 70% of NHS trusts in London were classed as "least well performing", whereas most trusts in the north were ranked fairly high.
The Healthcare Commission report also highlighted problems with staffing and inadequate screening checks. Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced extra funding for maternity services over the next three years.
It is the first time such a wide-ranging review of maternity services has been carried out. Just over a quarter of the 148 trusts assessed were classed as "best performing" on 25 factors which included screening tests, ante-natal care and midwife support. But 21% of trusts fell into the "least well performing" category.
In London, antenatal and postnatal care tended to be consistently poorer, with women not having as many checks as recommended, and inconsistent quality of care around the time of birth. In contrast, in the North, 33 out of 44 trusts were ranked as "better performing" or "best performing". The review, which also took into account a survey of 26,000 mothers, was launched in response to concerns about maternity services.
Data collected from trusts showed that 40% of ultrasound scans carried out fail to fully check for abnormalities in unborn babies. A quarter of trusts reported breast feeding initiation rates of 58% or less, while the highest performing trusts reported rates of 78% or more. A third of hospitals did not have the recommended level of attendance by consultants.
And nine trusts had only 26 midwives per 1,000 deliveries compared with an average of 31 midwives per 1000 deliveries - experts recommend 36 per 1,000 to achieve one-to-one care.
Anna Walker, the Commission's chief executive, said care in the worst performing trusts was not unsafe and they would take immediate action if it was. She added that there were real concerns about maternity care in London and trusts need to "rise to the challenges" faced in the capital.
Mary Newburn, of the National Childbirth Trust, said: "Women can be emotionally traumatised by a lack of support when they are in labour or coping with a new baby, and can be left needing months of physical or psychological recovery with long-term scars."
Dame Karlene Davis, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, said maternity care was suffering from lack of funds and midwives. "Midwives want to give high quality care but they are pushing a large rock up a very steep hill."
The Royal College says 5,000 extra midwives are needed, to cope with the rising birth rates. Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced extra funding for maternity services that will increase over the next three years to reach an additional £122m annually. He said the funds would help ensure women get a choice over where to give birth, improve flexibility of maternity services' opening hours and increase the number of midwives and support staff.
"I want to see the NHS delivering a gold standard of maternity services for women in every part of the country," he said.
