Lib Dems call for one-to-one midwife care during childbirth
Sir Ed Davey pledged to spend £600m a year on maternity services if the Lib Dems were in government.
The Liberal Democrats are advocating for one-to-one midwife care during childbirth in England, citing alarming statistics. According to Lib Dem analysis of NHS figures, a record number of women have experienced potentially life-threatening complications during childbirth, including severe blood loss and tearing injuries requiring emergency surgery.
Three women out of every 100 suffered serious tearing injuries in the first half of the year, a "devastating indictment" of the NHS maternity services, according to party leader Sir Ed Davey. The government is set to release a new national maternity and neonatal action plan by the end of the year. Davey pledged to allocate £600m annually to maternity services if his party were in government, emphasizing the need for investment in prevention rather than compensation payouts for poor maternity services.
He criticized the current staffing levels as "massively overstretched" and called for more senior midwives and consultants to be present on labour wards at all times. The Lib Dems also recommend recruiting an additional 300 consultant midwives. The party points to data from the Care Quality Commission showing that one-in-10 women were left alone during late stages of labour or childbirth last year, a situation they attribute to staff shortages and inadequate training.
Over 8,000 women experienced postpartum haemorrhages with blood loss exceeding 1.5 litres since the start of the year, more than double the number in the same period in 2021. Rates of major haemorrhage peaked between April and June this year, with 32.7 women per thousand requiring emergency treatment. The rate of severe vaginal tears during childbirth has risen by 29% over the past five years.
Helen Morgan, a Lib Dem health spokesperson, criticized the lack of progress since previous maternity scandals, such as the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, where over 200 babies may have died due to catastrophic failures. The Department of Health and Social Care is set to publish a new maternity and neonatal action plan, incorporating recommendations from previous inquiries, and will appoint the first statutory Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner to ensure women's voices are at the forefront of policy-making.
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