Calling all personal injury solicitors: midwife shortages mean birth injuries are prominent

Motherhood is something that many of us look forward to. Minus the aching back, swollen ankles and incessant need to pee, pregnancy is a time to be relished. Our skin glows, our hair shines, the maternal instinct begins to take over all else and we can't wait to have that bouncing babe in our arms. The last thing that we want to worry about is having to contact personal injury solicitors to make a no win no fee compensation claim.

However, recent revelations made by the BBC suggest an urgent call for concern. A reporter was sent undercover at a busy London hospital to investigate just how up to scratch its maternity ward really was.

Uncovered truths
Reporter Hayley Cutts was faced with a shambolic lack of organisation, sheer medical negligence, and the requirement for her to perform procedures way out of her skill-set.

She went in as an unpaid volunteer without a basic nursing qualification or morsel of training behind her. Not only did she witness first-hand as patients were shunted from pillar to post, turned away and left agonised in corridors due to a distinct lack of bed space but she was also asked to take blood pressure readings and monitor babies' hearts without having an inkling of what she was doing.

This kind of conduct puts both mother and baby at serious risk of suffering birth injuries that could have had devastating effects on their health and a significant impact on the NHS once costly compensation claims are pursued under top-notch personal injury solicitors.

But this kind of medical negligence is by no means limited to this one London hospital and staff at a hospital in Manchester revealed the pressure that they are under with comments from midwives such as, "Too much workload with high risk women. Too many patients not enough support staff" and, "I don't get a chance to look after my patients when there's no support staff on".

Devastating consequences
In 2004, there was a case reported in the news where a baby died after being starved of oxygen during an emergency Caesarean in hospital.

According to an independent inquiry into the cause of death, there were more than 20 areas where there was room for improvement at this unit, which could all have contributed to the child's untimely death.

The baby's father commented, "The lack of midwifery care is not due to the fact that we have bad midwives. It is the fact that they are put under so much pressure these days.

"Midwifes are looking after two or maybe three mothers at the same time. They are struggling."

A plan for the future is born
The Government has a plan and are aiming that by 2009 every woman should have a choice over where she gives birth: at home, in hospital or in a birthing centre, either in hospital grounds or the community.

It is hoped that this will make the birthing process more natural and less clinical. It is also anticipated that women should have a midwife that sees them throughout their pregnancy. The idea is that a woman will be assigned a named midwife, who will become their first port of call, after initial contact is made with the health service.

However, according to the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) a further 10,000 midwives are required in addition to the 24,000 that are already in employment in the UK to make this vision even worth considering.

The Government say that they want to create a 'world class' maternity service. But is this possible seeing as resources are already stretched beyond belief leading to no win no fee personal injury claims left, right and centre?

Something does need to be achieved to provide better care for mothers and their new arrivals in the UK. It seems that the only improvement will be seen with a substantial increase in investment so that resources can be improved upon. As usual, money is at the crux of getting the NHS out of bother and keeping personal injury solicitors at bay.

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