Poor maternity care 'tolerated as normal'

Minister apologises after Inquiry hears mums' tales of agony, neglect & errors

- ASHLEY COWBURN

A HEALTH minister was yesterday forced into a humbling apology after an MPs' report found poor maternity care is frequently tolerated as normal in the NHS.

Maria Caulfield said sorry after the cross-party Birth Trauma Inquiry heard harrowing accounts of stillbirth, life-changing injuries and babies born with cerebral palsy caused by oxygen deprivation.

More than 1,300 women shared their experiences with some detailing being mocked or shouted at and denied basic needs such as pain relief.

MPs said in many cases the trauma was caused by failures before and during labour. Hospitals frequently covered up errors, they said.

Detailing some of the most devastating accounts, they said some women suffered birth injuries causing a lifetime of pain and bowel incontinence.

Some women said they could no longer work and that their injuries destroyed their sense of self-worth.