Released on: 26 March 2019
In response to the results of the 2018 Scottish Maternity Care Survey, Elizabeth Duff, Senior Policy Adviser, NCT, said:
“Mothers in Scotland have responded positively to this survey about their care in pregnancy and birth, commenting favourably on the information they were given during that time.
“However, in the postnatal period, mums were less satisfied with their care in hospital than in the 2015 report. And when talking about care at home after the birth, only two in three women felt they definitely had enough advice and support to care for their baby. These figures reflect similar results of an NCT survey ‘Support Overdue’ published in 2017.
“It is concerning to see new mothers reporting such low levels of support with feeding their baby. Just 60% of women reported they ‘always received active support and encouragement from health professionals about feeding their baby’ and only 53% felt they ‘always got consistent advice’. Both these findings continue a downward trend following surveys in 2013 and 2015.
“NCT supports the implementation of the Scottish maternity policy ‘The Best Start’ and looks forward to seeing reports of improved experiences from women and families as a result of this work.”
