Presenter Sophy Ridge has revealed that the experience of giving birth has “radicalised” her as she criticizes the “shocking” state of maternal healthcare in the UK.
The Sky News presenter and mother-of-two, 39, shared her views on a recent damning report into birth trauma research while presenting Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge yesterday.
The UK’s first parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma has found that maternity services are of “surprisingly poor quality”, stating that good care is “the exception rather than the rule”.
She heard testimony from more than 1,300 women, including new mothers who were left lying on blood-covered sheets for hours and even scolded by midwives for soiling themselves.
The presenter, who is married to Mirror journalist Ben Griffiths, said she felt compelled to share her own experiences with the NHS after “having two children in the last few years” and agreed it was “poor quality”. .
Sophy Ridge has revealed that having two children “radicalized” her, while criticizing the “shocking” state of British maternal healthcare.
The Sky News presenter and mother-of-two, 39, shared her views on a recent damning report into birth trauma research while presenting Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge yesterday.
In a segment of the program published in xsaid: ‘I joked that after having two children in the last few years I have become radicalized when it comes to maternal healthcare.
“But if I’m honest, it’s not really a joke… I actually feel quite radicalized about it because maternity care in the UK is, in my opinion, quite shocking.”
The Oxford graduate backed up her claims by referring to the stories of “other moms,” which she said were more than just anecdotes, but real experiences.
She also criticized the maternity care system for not listening to the plight of women, especially black mothers.
“There is an issue here that women are simply not listened to and that is particularly the case if you are a woman from a non-white background,” Sophy said.
She continued: “Maternal mortality for black women is currently almost four times that of white women.”
He went on to claim that one in five stillbirths and neonatal deaths (800 babies a year) could have been saved if they had had “better care”.
The presenter also expressed her doubts about the outcome of the birth trauma inquiry, adding that she had a “horrible feeling that this will end up being just another report on poor maternity care being swept under the carpet”.
The UK’s first parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma has found maternity services to be of “surprisingly poor quality” and says good care is “the exception rather than the rule”.
The reporter, married to Mirror journalist Ben Griffiths, said she felt compelled to share her own experiences with the NHS after “having two children in the last few years” and agreed it was “poor quality”.
“We need to demand serious changes… because this is an absolute scandal,” he concluded.
The UK’s first parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma has found that maternity services are of “surprisingly poor quality”, stating that good care is “the exception rather than the rule”.
A woman pregnant with twins who went into premature labor at 19 weeks was told by a consultant to “stop stressing” after losing her first baby. Another, dismissed as an “anxious mother,” later lost her baby due to complications she warned about.
The scathing report comes after former Made in Chelsea star Louise Thompson revealed how she feared she would die after she was denied a caesarean section, lost three and a half liters of blood and tore her uterus while giving birth to her son Leo. .
In an exclusive extract from her book published by Mail+, the 34-year-old confessed she could barely look at her baby after her traumatic birth and that her fiancé Ryan Libbey considered leaving her.
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins called the testimony heard in the report “heartbreaking” and promised to improve maternity care for “women during pregnancy, childbirth and the critical months that follow.”
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard also said the experiences outlined in the report are “simply not good enough”.
The all-party inquiry was led by Conservative MP Theo Clarke and Labor MP Rosie Duffield.
The report found that “poor care is often tolerated as normal and women are treated as an inconvenience.”
Its 12 recommendations include the creation of a maternity commissioner reporting to the Prime Minister.
Other key suggestions are to digitize the mother’s health records and “provide support to parents and ensure that (a) nominated birth partner is continually informed and updated during and after birth.”
Ms Clarke, who prompted the inquiry after revealing in Parliament that she felt she would die after giving birth in 2022, told the Times: “We have listened carefully to mothers and applaud their bravery in coming forward, sometimes with horrific testimonies of how the system failed them and the mental, physical and economic cost of that failure.
“The series of recommendations we are making, especially the appointment of a maternity commissioner, are designed to end the postcode lottery in maternity services.”
The report details how a doctor told a woman who suffered intestinal problems after a traumatic birth and took her hospital to court for negligence after problems during childbirth: “Why don’t I put a butt plug on and get on with my job?” life?”. day’.
Another described how her severe physical symptoms stemming from birth trauma, including fatigue and tremors, were misdiagnosed as psychological, leading her to receive eight sessions of electroconvulsive therapy, which involves sending an electrical current through the brain.
A woman who was pregnant with twins went into premature labor at 19 weeks and lost her first baby.
“One of the consultants told me to stop crying, calm down and try to save the other baby,” she told the report.
“His words were, ‘This baby was dead a long time ago, so you should stop worrying about it and try to save the other one,'” she said.
The second baby also died.
Ms Atkins said she was “determined to improve the quality and consistency of care for women during pregnancy, childbirth and the critical months that follow”.
She added: “I am hugely grateful to Theo Clarke for his carefully crafted report and to all those brave women who came forward to share their harrowing experiences.”
Earlier in January this year, the health secretary shared her personal experience in the “darkest corners” of the NHS after giving birth to her son in 2011 as a patient with type one diabetes.
Complications at the end of her pregnancy forced her to share a room with new mothers who suffered “hellish agony” and birth trauma.
At the time, she pledged to make women’s health a “top priority” so that other women “wouldn’t face the fear that I faced.”
Responding to today’s report, Liberal Democrat MP and co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on baby loss, Helen Morgan, said: “This inquiry has exposed what many of us have long feared about the state of the country’s maternity services.
‘That so many women have such traumatic experiences during childbirth is nothing short of a national tragedy. Too many women are failing pregnancy, childbirth and aftercare, as this report shows.
‘It’s time for the Government to take action to end the postcode lottery in maternity services. I urge you to accept the report in its entirety.’
Asked whether an apology was due, Women’s Health Minister Maria Caulfield told Sky News: “Absolutely.” As Minister for Women’s Health I recognize that maternity services have not been where we want them to be.’
But he added that the Government is already doing much of the work recommended in the report.
She told Times Radio: ‘We absolutely recognize what is in the report. “We are on track to implement some of these services to prevent this from happening in the first place, but when it does happen, take better care of women.”