National Maternity Survey published

Families were asked questions about all aspects of their maternity care from the first time they saw a clinician or midwife, during labour and birth, through to the care provided at home following the arrival of their baby.

All those providing maternity care very much appreciate and value feedback from people who use our maternity services. The feedback is used to help develop services to meet the needs of women and families. In certain areas, such as antenatal and postnatal care, our response rates were too low to provide meaningful data, so we are working closely with our Maternity Voices Partnership to increase these responses next year.

We were particularly pleased to see that our Trust had better than average scores on the following questions:

• Partners or someone else close to the mother were involved in their care as much as they wanted to be during labour and birth
• Mothers feeling that they were given appropriate advice and support when they contacted a midwife or the hospital at the start of their labour
• Mothers having the opportunity to ask questions about their labour and birth after the baby was born
• Mothers feeling that if they raised a concern during labour and birth it was taken seriously
• Mothers being able to get a member of staff to help when they needed it during labour and birth

Although Gloucestershire Hospitals did not perform worse than expected in any areas in comparison with other Trusts, we are developing plans regarding certain areas that were highlighted as areas for improvement:

• Mothers being involved in the decision to be induced
• Mothers being given enough information on induction before being induced
• Partners or someone else involved in the mother's care being able to stay with them as much as the mother wanted during their stay in the hospital
• Mothers being able to get a member of staff to help when they needed it while in hospital after the birth
• Mothers being treated with kindness and understanding while in hospital after the birth

Lisa Stephens, Head of Midwifery said: “While we are very pleased with the results of this survey, we are not complacent and are committed to working with service users and our Maternity Voices Partnership to further improve maternity care. For example, the survey indicates that we have some work to do around communication relating to the induction of labour. For other areas such as partners’ access, we know that these will have been impacted by COVID regulations, but we want people to know that we are listening and striving to accommodate the need for further support from others involved in their care

“Meanwhile, we are planning to hold a Facebook live event with Gloucestershire Maternity Voices to listen to people’s experiences and better understand the need for postnatal help and support.”

Vivien Mortimore, Chief Midwife commented: “Overall, given the considerable challenges that COVID has presented to both users of our maternity services and colleagues who provide this care, we are delighted with these results. The positive areas highlighted demonstrate how our focus on all aspects of health, alongside the provision of more information and support for choice within maternity care, is improving parents' experiences and perceptions of our maternity services.”

CQC report available at: https://www.cqc.org.uk/publications/surveys/maternity-survey-2021