More than 4 in 10 women turned away at maternity wards in UK

[hsmith]

More than four in ten maternity units turn away women in labour | the Daily Mail

More than four in ten maternity units turn away women in labour

By JENNY HOPE - More by this author » Last updated at 22:21pm on 20th March 2008 Comments (7)
Traumatic: Pregnant women are being turned away from one in four NHS hospitals and forced to give birth miles away

Maternity units are turning away women in labour because they have no room, figures show.
More than four in ten NHS hospitals refused to accept expectant mothers at least once last year.

The figures, from 103 of the 147 NHS trusts with maternity services, were obtained by the Conservatives under the Freedom of Information Act.

They show that almost one in ten trusts closed more than ten times last year.

And the University of Leicester Hospitals Trust - one of the biggest NHS providers - closed 28 times.

In all, 43 trusts said they had closed their maternity unit, or had been forced to send women to another hospital, at least once in 2007 because they were full.

The Tories said it contacted all 147 trusts providing maternity services in England.

But several with maternity units that have recently closed or downgraded, or are facing such changes, did not respond. Hundreds of thousands protested last year about local shake-ups that could result in downgrading or closure of midwife-led and consultant-led maternity units.

Mary Newburn, head of policy at the National Childbirth Trust, said Labour's backing for women's choice was not deliverable under these circumstances.

She added: "If women are to have their choice of place of birth guaranteed by 2009, as promised by the Government, it is vital there is sufficient capacity."

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said it was concerned about the implications of closures.

Richard Warren, RCOG honorary secretary, said: "Safety and quality of care are paramount and, although the UK is a safe place to give birth, growing pressures require long-term investment.

"Our current calculation is that 400 extra consultants are immediately required across England and Wales."

Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley said: "The Government's plans to close maternity units when services are already overstretched fly in the face of common sense.

"Labour are fixated with cutting smaller, local maternity services and concentrating them in big units. But women don't want to have to travel miles to give birth.

"And they certainly don't want to have to travel even further because they're turned away by the hospital of their choice."

Liberal Democrat spokesman Norman Lamb said: "There is a huge gap between Government promises and the reality in maternity units across the country.

"Promises of one-to-one care for all women are a world away from expectant mothers being turned away from hospitals because they are running over capacity.

"The Government needs to stop burying its head in the sand and launch a national review of capacity in maternity services."

Louise Silverton, deputy general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, said: "Women should have a choice of how and where they give birth.

"This is guaranteed in the Government's plans for maternity services and we want to make sure that this choice is expanded, not reduced.

"If a unit closed because of staff shortages, then their choice is eroded and their experience of birth suffers."

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "It is difficult to predict precisely when a mother will go into labour and sometimes, at times of peak demand, maternity units do temporarily divert women to nearby facilities.

"When this does happen it is often only for a few hours and to ensure mother and baby can receive the best care possible."

Pretty shameful if you ask me. Just singing the "praises" of how "great" universal health care is.

[thewise1]

While I'm not one to tout universal healthcare at all, look at the stat - more than 40% of their hospitals turned away someone at least once in 2007.

That's not necessarily as bad as it sounds

[Donkey®]

I don't even understand half the words in that article...but I did understand that the numbers were WAY overstated.

[David Octavius]

Bullshit thread alert

thread title - "more than 4 in 10 WOMEN turned away"

Actual title - "more than 4 in 10 MATERNITY units turned away"

More than four in ten NHS hospitals refused to accept expectant mothers at least once last year.

Shameful yest but there is a big difference between a maternity unit turning away at least one person last year compared to 4 in 10 women are turned away.

I think if we look at our numbers of how many of our people (in general) are turned away or given inferior care and quickly released because of no or inadequate insurance, our numbers would blow theirs away.

[7960]

Originally Posted by David Octavius

Bullshit thread alert

thread title - "more than 4 in 10 WOMEN turned away"

thread title says "more than 4 in 10 WOMEN turned away at maternity wards"

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "It is difficult to predict precisely when a mother will go into labour and sometimes, at times of peak demand, maternity units do temporarily divert women to nearby facilities.

So what's the issue? When my wife had to be rushed to the ER the ambulance driver called ahead and we were diverted to a different hospital because the closer one was too busy.

This is a problem?

[David Octavius]

Originally Posted by 7960

thread title says "more than 4 in 10 WOMEN turned away at maternity wards"

Here we go again, I am only going to explain this once and use small words so you can understand -

Its bullshit thread because the title is presenting the numbers (4 in 10 women) in a particular way to show something as a crises or worse than it actually is when actually reading the article and seeing the article put those numbers into context (4 in to maternity wards turned away at least one woman).

I hope that wasn't to hard for you to understand?

[7960]

Originally Posted by David Octavius

Here we go again, I am only going to explain this once and use small words so you can understand -

Its bullshit thread because the title is presenting the numbers (4 in 10 women) in a particular way to show something as a crises or worse than it actually is when actually reading the article and seeing the article put those numbers into context (4 in to maternity wards turned away at least one woman).

I hope that wasn't to hard for you to understand?

I didn't read the article, just the last few sentences.

[WickedLou9]

Screwed with either system
Despite More Funds, Women Face Barriers to Prenatal Care - New York Times

[7960]

actually I looked at the picture and thought "where are the pregger boobs?!?!?" and felt bad for her hubby.

[Thorgrim]

It seems

1) According to David, the figures/situation is way over hyped

2) This is not a problem that is immune or limited in private healthcare...

So even if the title were true, which it seems not, it's not a decent argument against universal healthcare

[hsmith]

lol oops bad title

[Thorgrim]

Does anyone get the feeling that some anti-UC people are sad that the title was misleading and women AREN'T suffering in England?

[A_C_E]

I don't really get where you're going with this.

Everyone in America can ALREADY GET health care, and no woman in labor has ever and will ever be turned away at a US hospital. Whether we have UHC or not. It's not like UHC can all of a sudden cause problems in maternity wards.

So I'm not really seeing the point.

[kombayn]

The Problems with Socialized Health Care

Here is an extremely good website on the short-comings of Socialized Health Care. I am with Obama, as he'll give us the option to opt out of it, which is great. Because I already have a good health-care provider. Could you just imagine our Universal Health Care system and the waiting lists they'll start providing? It's going to cost us a crap load of money. But our Government doesn't want to cut spending anymore, they rather break our backs economically so the weak can start asking for hand-outs and help from our Government. Makes me want to puke.

[7960]

Originally Posted by kombayn

The Problems with Socialized Health Care

Here is an extremely good website on the short-comings of Socialized Health Care. I am with Obama, as he'll give us the option to opt out of it, which is great. Because I already have a good health-care provider.

If we start with UHC you don't think your provider is going to change, possibly for the worse?

Makes me want to puke.

You're wanting to puke a lot today. Are you ok?

[Stylerod]

While a hospital turning away even one woman in labor that walks through their door is one too many, that title is horribly misleading. You'd think 40% of all women in labor can't get into the first hospital they go to.

Whenever I see some fantastic headline and then notice it's from a Brit newspaper I usually just ignore it. This is the norm for them.

[RMNIXON]

I think the government should be the one to get pregnant and have the baby.

They want to raise your kids already!

[6SpeedTA95]

That statistic is totally misleading and is typical media propaganda.