Maternity Services Safe - Report
March 4th 2008
Giving birth in England remains safe in spite of neglect by senior managers and pressures on staff, according to a major new report. 
The boards that oversee NHS trusts have "insufficient focus" on maternity services and the safety of mothers and babies, according to the report commissioned by the King’s Fund.
The report says staff are burdened with too many sets of complex guidelines and there is frequent tension between obstetricians and midwives.
There are also often "inadequate" numbers of staff with the right skills on duty.
The report was commissioned specifically to look at the safety of services.
Professor Onora O’Neill, President of the British Academy, who chaired the inquiry, said: "Despite concerns about the safety of maternity services, maternal and perinatal death rates have remained low in the face of growing pressures and a rising birth rate.
"This is something to build on, so that all births are as safe as possible."
King’s Fund chief executive Niall Dickson said: "This report should provide some reassurance to prospective mothers and their families, but it also clear there is much still to be done to make maternity care in England as safe as it could and should be.
"This report should be regarded as a call for action. In short, we could do better for mothers and their babies."
The report was welcomed by the Royal College of Midwives.
Deputy general secretary Louise Silverton said: "For too long maternity care has been left behind when it comes to resources including staffing, and this should galvanise Trusts to pull their fingers out and address the issues the report raises, and for the government to sustain the investment in midwives and resources."
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