The state of England’s maternity services is a “cause of national shame”, Health Secretary Wes Streeting admitted last month.
As a journalist who has covered the alarming situation for years, I couldn’t agree more.
Successive reports have highlighted deep-rooted problems that put mothers, babies and staff at risk. One of the most recent, drawn up by the Care Quality Commission, warned that avoidable harm was so widespread that it risked becoming “normalised”.
I have spoken to dozens of women and their partners affected by failures in maternity care. I have heard devastating stories of lasting trauma, injuries, and deaths that have frustrated and angered me to my core.
Even more so because it is often caused by the same problems: not listening to women’s concerns, lack of adequately trained staff, poor communication between medical teams and pressure to empty hospital beds.
Katie Fowler, whose baby died due to NHS errors, was rebuffed by Mr Streeting when she wrote to him and asked to meet.
We are missing 2,500 midwives. Officially, two-thirds of maternity units are not safe enough. Maternal mortality rates are at their highest level in 20 years. Yes, Wes, it’s an embarrassing situation. So, as our new Health Secretary, what are you going to do about it? At the moment, it is not at all clear.
In June, Streeting described how failings in maternity care caused him anxiety “in the pit of his stomach” and promised that if he became minister he would meet affected families and listen to their concerns. I was encouraged that we could finally see positive action. But were they just empty promises?
Last week I reported on how a heartbroken mother, Katie Fowler, whose baby died due to NHS errors, was rejected by Mr Streeting when she wrote to him and asked to meet.
She and her husband Rob Miller are among eight families whose children died at the same hospital. Instead of acknowledging the request, his department sent him an insultingly sloppy cut-and-paste response.
Of all the maternity care failures I’ve reported on, Katie’s is one of the most heartbreaking.
She nearly died during childbirth in January 2022, after midwives who relied on telephone assessments dismissed her concerns as a panic attack. In fact, he was suffering from massive internal bleeding and collapsed on the way to the hospital.
Their daughter, Abigail Fowler Miller, was born by emergency cesarean section in a public hallway. He died in his parents’ arms about 48 hours later.
Her story is a horrendous example of the worst-case scenario, but it is these examples that Mr Streeting must hear to understand how dangerous systemic failures in maternity services can be. However, in response to Katie’s letter detailing her situation, it was an anonymous “correspondence officer” who took it upon herself to eliminate a series of bland platitudes.
The state of England’s maternity services is a “cause of national shame”, Health Secretary Wes Streeting admitted last month. Pictured with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer
I have seen and analyzed the letter, which begins by offering “sincere condolences.”
She continues: “Birth should not be something women fear or remember with trauma,” seemingly oblivious to how insensitive it is to say this to a woman whose baby was torn from her body in a public hallway in a panicked attempt to save it. their lives.
But it wasn’t just insensitive, or even rude; Surprisingly, it was a rehash of a press statement made by Wes Streeting last month, the same one in which he mentioned “national shame.”
The letter goes on to tell Katie that baby loss certificates are now available for pregnancies that end before 24 weeks, to help “all parents manage the difficult time of a loss,” words copied from a press release. issued in February under the previous Conservative government. the health secretary, Victoria Atkins.
While that plan is a positive step in spontaneous abortion care, it is insensitive to suggest it to a mother whose only child died under such shocking (and avoidable) circumstances.
“The Government recognizes that there are serious problems with maternity services and is committed to learning from the findings of recent research and investigations,” the letter added.
These same words were used by Health Minister Karin Smyth in August when responding to a parliamentary question on an unrelated topic.
“I hope this answer is helpful,” he concludes. Katie feels, rightly, insulted. “Flippant and impersonal,” is how he described it.
Last week, Nisha Sharma, a lawyer at Slater and Gordon who represents Katie’s family and several similar cases, criticized Streeting for not meeting with the victims. “I urge you to look these families in the eyes and see their pain,” he said.
She is right. To understand a problem, you need to listen to the people who are at the center of it.
I have seen parents cradling small boxes containing their children’s ashes. I have heard the tremor in a father’s voice as he remembers pleading with doctors to keep his dying baby on life support until they could wake his comatose wife to see her.
I have also spoken publicly about my own experience of terrible care, when maternity staff failed to realize that my pelvis had broken during childbirth. Although I was in agony and could not sit, lie down, or take a step without excruciating pain, I was sent home without diagnosis or treatment to care for my baby. It took me more than three years to recover.
Katie Flowler and her husband Rob Miller are among eight families whose children died at the same hospital.
Mr Streeting, you need to hear all of this too, or you won’t truly understand how broken this system is. And you should talk to midwives to learn how unsafe working conditions are pushing talented staff to quit, fearing the next avoidable harm or death will occur on their shift.
Maternity care did not reach its current state of crisis during Mr Streeting’s tenure, but it will only get worse until he stops spouting snippets and listens.
You need to look these people in the eyes and feel their pain, anger and frustration because this keeps happening. If you don’t, it’s all too easy to dismiss as statistics the injured mother, the baby who died, or the midwife who quit after too many dangerously understaffed shifts.
Tellingly, Katie Fowler knew nothing more about Mr Streeting’s department until I spoke to his press office last week. Later, one of her team contacted her out of the blue. Now he has promised to meet her and I hope he does.
Writing off families with generic cut-and-paste letters is simply not enough, and it certainly won’t stop more mothers and babies from dying.
