13 London hospitals named among worst for childbirth

The biggest ever survey of new mothers found 13 London hospital trusts are among the worst in the country on maternity care.

Women said they were left alone during labour, could not trust staff and had fears over cleanliness.

Bart's and The London NHS Trust was rated the worst in the country for care throughout labour and Whipps Cross in Leytonstone came bottom of a league table of satisfaction with staff.

The Healthcare Commission questioned 26,000 women in England, including more than 4,000 in London. Meanwhile, a Standard investigation shows women are making hundreds of official complaints about overcrowded wards and aggressive staff.

They have seen Caesarean sections and home births cancelled at the last minute and suffered delays for vital scans to detect Down's syndrome.

Campaigners called for improvements but midwives said massive staff shortages and vacancy rates of eight per cent meant they were overstretched.

The commission found one in four London mothers had no midwife to call during pregnancy, compared with an England average of one in 10. In London, 56 per cent were not offered a choice of home birth, in clear breach of NHS guidelines, compared with 43 per cent across the country.

Mothers in the capital were also more likely to give birth in stirrups - against guidelines - with 44 per cent delivering in that position at Bart's.

At least 13 per cent of women in London said they were not treated with respect after birth, almost double the England average. One in three did not get help with breastfeeding. Nationally, 76 per cent of women said care during labour was excellent or very good. Only 34 per cent said overall care at Bart's was very good or excellent, the worst rating in the country.

Belinda Phipps, chief executive of the National Childbirth Trust, said: "There are huge hospitals seeing huge numbers of women, yet too few midwives."

Kay Riley, director of nursing at Bart's and The London, said: "Clearly there are women who feel we are not meeting those needs and we must do better."

She said the trust had reviewed care last year and was making improvements. Nationally, about one in four women was left alone during childbirth when they were worried but the figure rose to almost half of new mothers in Bart's and The London and also in Lewisham Hospital. At least four in 10 women said they were left alone when scared at several hospital trusts: Newham, Barking, Havering and Redbridge, North Middlesex and Barnet and Chase Farm. Other trusts with poor satisfaction ratings among new mothers were The Royal Free in Hampstead, Mayday Healthcare in Croydon, North West London, Kingston, Hammersmith Hospitals and King's College Hospital. Meanwhile, the Standard has found 718 official complaints about maternity care were made in London last year - one per 170 births, compared with one per 254 births nationwide. The rate of complaints fell slightly.

CASE STUDY: 'MIDWIVES HAVE AN ATTITUDE PROBLEM'

Sarah Mitchell spent 48 hours in labour before giving birth by emergency Caesarean section.

She said that within hours she was struggling to breastfeed and increasingly distressed by the "attitude problem" of midwives looking after her.

The 29-year-old radio producer had her daughter Clementine delivered at The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead in January. She has complained to the Healthcare Commission, which is investigating.

"I had explained to the hospital that I was incredibly nervous about giving birth but it seemed to make no difference," she said.

"I knew my daughter was in the wrong position and I kept asking them to scan me but nothing happened for 48 hours. I was in so much pain. Then I had a Caesarean because she was breech. But when I woke up the staff were unpleasant."

Ms Mitchell, from Highgate, continued: "They told me I was selfish trying to breastfeed and that Clementine was suffering because I was struggling. They were pressuring me to bottlefeed.

"I also found it hard to move because of the operation on my stomach muscles. I was asking for help but three midwives refused to help me get up."

When Ms Mitchell's partner Chris Cope was cuddling his daughter, staff allegedly ordered him to wrap the baby up tighter and said: "I won't tell you again."

A spokesman for the Royal Free said: "Senior obstetric staff are keen to meet Ms Mitchell to discuss her concerns further but so far she has declined. We would be happy to arrange this at any time if she decides she would like to discuss any outstanding issues."

THE FAILING TRUSTS

Bart's and the London NHS Trust
Whipps Cross
Lewisham Hospital
Newham
Barking, Havering and Redbridge
North Middlesex Barnet and Chase Farm
The Royal Free
Mayday Healthcare
North West London
Kingston
Hammersmith Hospitals
King's College Hospital