Released on: 28 January 2020
In response to today’s Care Quality Commission Maternity Services Survey 2019, Elizabeth Duff, Senior Policy Adviser, NCT, said:
“This report finds some improvements in maternity services which are very welcome. It’s encouraging to see many recommendations from ‘Better Births’ are being acted upon.
“However, we’re very disappointed to see little sign of improvement in postnatal care, despite evidence that many mothers suffer serious and dangerous problems at this time. Postnatal findings include insufficient information being given about physical recovery, a lack of continuity of carer and services failing to pick up mental health problems.
“Postnatal services must be prioritised. Our Hidden Half campaign, for example, found that nearly half (42%) of new mothers’ mental health problems did not get picked up by a doctor or other health professional.”
