Most women, about 92 per cent, in the UK are pleased with the maternity care they receive, rating it as at least good, according to a new survey.

The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) survey of women’s experiences of maternity services in 2010 is published today, showing some encouraging improvements since the survey in 2007. However, information and support still needs to improve to enable all women and their partners to be confident in caring for their babies. The survey also revealed that there are still concerns surrounding labour, birth and post-natal care.

More than half of all women in England who gave birth in February 2010 responded, with more than 25,000 mothers taking part from 144 NHS trusts in England that provide maternity services.

Women were asked about all aspects of their maternity care from the first time they saw a clinician, to care provided at home in the weeks following the birth of their baby.

CQC expects trusts to use the findings to target improvements and will feed the information into CQC profiles held on individual trusts, used by the regulator to assess where risks may lie.

Each trust’s individual results are available in CQC’s online Care Directory, which shows whether a trust's survey results are better or worse than average.

Overall, whilst women reported improvements in their care since the 2007 survey, there is still more to be done for all women to feel supported, particularly during the postnatal period as they settle into family life.

CQC chief executive Cynthia Bower said: ‘We’re encouraged by this survey’s findings, which will help NHS trusts assess their own services and focus on the areas women have said are important.

‘The direct views of people who use services are important in assessing the quality and safety of maternity care. With more women going direct to a midwife and more women having their booking appointment before they were nine weeks pregnant, it is clear that many trusts have taken on board national guidance and women are benefiting. This is a tribute to the people providing maternity care.

‘This reported improvement in antenatal care is encouraging, but sadly it is not mirrored in the care provided during labour and birth. Whilst many women report feeling involved in their care, it is particularly concerning that over a fifth of women are left alone during labour or birth when it worries them and it seems too many are not being encouraged to take more active birthing positions.

‘There have been few improvements in postnatal care, with worryingly fewer women saying they receive the information or explanations they need. New parents need to feel reassured at this particularly important time in their lives as they embark on parenthood. It is particularly important for trusts to focus their attention on improvements in this area and ensure that handovers to community services and support networks for new parents are managed effectively.

‘These survey results help us further develop an informed view of services across the country and feed into our systems for on-going monitoring of compliance with the essential standards of quality and safety.’

The survey was co-coordinated on behalf of CQC by the Picker Institute Europe.

• Access the full national results, briefing note and acute trust reports
• Access Care Directory for results for acute trusts (Enter a postcode or organisation name, then scroll down to 'What people said about this trust')

The trust scores are also be available on the NHS Choices website.

Share this post