UK Postnatal Care: Failing Women Due to Underfunding & Staff Shortages
- The UK's postnatal care system dangerously underfunds and understaffs support for new mothers, a new report warns.
- Experts call the findings deeply troubling, stating too many women lack a safety net during a critical and vulnerable time.
- An NCT survey of 2,000 new and expectant parents across the UK-including 500 pregnant women-revealed 24% don't have regular access to NHS staff in the weeks and months...
The UK’s postnatal care system dangerously underfunds and understaffs support for new mothers, a new report warns. thousands feel unsafe, unsupported, and overwhelmed after giving birth, according to the National Childbirth Trust (NCT).
Experts call the findings deeply troubling, stating too many women lack a safety net during a critical and vulnerable time. they emphasize feeling overwhelmed shouldn’t be considered normal in early parenthood.
An NCT survey of 2,000 new and expectant parents across the UK-including 500 pregnant women-revealed 24% don’t have regular access to NHS staff in the weeks and months following birth.
Nearly 90% (87%) reported feeling overwhelmed at least some of the time, wiht 22% always feeling overwhelmed. Sixty-two percent experienced loneliness sometimes,and 12% felt lonely all the time. More than half (59%) of pregnant women worry about their mental health.
“Every major report has shown that the UK’s maternity system is failing to provide safe, compassionate care,” saeid Angela McConville, NCT chief executive. “Becoming a parent is rarely one-dimensional. It can be joyful, frightening, overwhelming and messy, often all at once, and that kaleidoscope of emotions is shaped profoundly by the care and support families receive.”