Lack of staff forced four in ten NHS maternity units to turn away expectant ... trends now
Lack of staff forced four in ten NHS maternity units to turn away expectant ... trends now
Lack of staff forced four in ten NHS maternity units to turn away expectant mothers last year, alarming investigation reveals Women were left unable to give birth at the maternity unit closest to their home Latest figures show the NHS is short of 124,000 staff including 44,000 nurses
View
comments
Pregnant women were forced to travel to alternative maternity units when four in ten temporarily closed last year due to lack of staff.
Some hospitals turned expectant mothers away for weeks at a time, an alarming investigation reveals.
It means the women were unable to give birth at the maternity unit or birth centre closest to their home or with midwives they wanted. Experts warn this could have been detrimental to mothers and babies as studies show maintaining continuity of care leads to better health outcomes.
The figures were obtained by the Labour Party, which sent Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to 194 trusts
