𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Every four minutes a mum’s trust in the NHS is broken following birth, a major new study warns. It found that every six minutes a mum leaves maternity care more frightened of healthcare than before.

The devastating findings in the Birth of Distrust – a report from More in Common and the New Britain Project – will heighten concerns about the nation’s maternity services. Negative maternity experiences are shaping how women see healthcare and government and affecting their family plans.

Three in four women with a poor birth experience say it reduced their trust in the NHS and nearly six out of 10 claim it affected their trust in Government. Nearly half are now more anxious about returning to healthcare settings.

Nearly half of mums who suffered such a poor birth say it made them less likely to have more children; two in five reported lasting physical and mental health consequences; and one who five who say they needed postnatal mental health support say they never received it.

Anna McShane, director of the New Britain Project, a female-led think tank, said, “We already knew that maternity care in Britain was in crisis. What we didn’t know, until now, was the full scale of what that crisis is doing to women, to families, and to public trust. When a woman leaves the maternity system afraid of hospitals, less likely to want another child, and convinced that no one in power is listening, that is a political failure with consequences that ripple outwards for years. The inequality in these findings is particularly damning.”

Shadow Health Secretary Stuart Andrew said the findings put the spotlight on a “generation of women who felt abandoned at the worst moment”.

He said: “Women deserve a maternity system that treats their concerns as real. The Conservatives will engage seriously with reform, starting with a service that is properly staffed and properly funded to deliver the care that mothers and babies need.”

Women who describe themselves as “financially struggling” are nearly twice as likely to report a “poor element” in their birth experience as those who are financially comfortable – 69% compared with 36%.

More than half of mothers who have given birth since 2020 say staff were “visibly overstretched”, with many saying they felt their concerns were not taken seriously. Nearly six out of 10 mums who have had a “bad birth” claim there would be no point complaining if something went wrong.

Labour MP Feryal Clark said, “The scale of poor experience alone should be enough to demand urgent action. But what really struck me was the fatalism, the fact that too many women have stopped expecting anything to change. If we are serious about rebuilding trust in public services, this is where we have to start.”

Luke Tryl of More in Common UK warned: “If the Government fails to act more women will continue to lose faith in mainstream politics entirely.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: “While the vast majority of births in England are safe, too many women are being failed by maternity services at what should be one of the most joyful moments of their lives.”

Baroness Amos’s national, independent investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal care will, she added, “help us understand the systemic issues behind the unacceptable care many families have faced”.

She said: “We’re also investing over £149million to make maternity and neonatal units safer, recruited 2,000 more midwives, and piloting Martha’s Rule in maternity services – giving families the right to request an urgent second opinion if they have concerns.”