Comment Writer Erin Osgood details the findings of a new review into maternity care, arguing that shocking treatment of female health is nothing new and must be changed
In as challenging a year as 2020 – one that presented global labours of truly Herculean proportions – it would be crass to argue that mothers have it easy at any stage, let alone in pregnancy. With coronavirus restrictions forcing women to take the difficult steps towards motherhood alone, including childbirth itself, the respect for those enduring pregnancy has boosted anew. All this has set the stage for a damning report on a dire lack of maternity safety. We must yet again ask an important question: why are pregnant women not listened to when they say something is wrong?
Why are pregnant women not listened to when they say something is wrong?
An independent review of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust has revealed a pattern of ‘grim failures,’ which led to the deaths of both babies and mothers from 2000 up until 2019. These included ‘a lethal reluctance to conduct caesarean sections; a tendency to blame mothers for problems; a failure to handle complex cases,’ and ‘a lack of consultant oversight.’ These issues are incomprehensible, indefensible, and obscene, but one of the most worrying findings of the report was its specific reference to a dearth of ‘kindness and compassion.’
Conventional wisdom would dictate that, aside from medical professionals themselves, the only reason that most people would want to be in a hospital would be to celebrate the birth of a child, be it their own or that of a loved one. Donna Ockenden, health care leader and chair of the maternity review, and her colleagues have discovered that what was supposed to be the most wonderful moment in many parents’ lives quickly became the worst. Detailing the report’s findings, Ockenden said, ‘for far too long, women and families…have been denied the opportunity to voice their concerns about the quality of care that they have received.’ Describing the pain endured by families who lost babies and mothers, she continued, ‘their suffering has been made worse’ by the Trust.
Ockenden’s review found 1,862 serious incidents, including deaths of babies and mothers – a truly staggering number. Aside from the injustice of these horrific and preventable events occurring in the first place, is the apparent blasé manner with which they were handled. In some cases, ‘women were blamed for their loss,’ or ‘raised concerns about their care and were dismissed or not listened to at all.’ Women’s agony was dismissed as ‘nothing,’ mothers were made to feel ‘pathetic,’ and one was even called ‘lazy’ by an obstetrician.
The dismissal of women’s medical issues is nothing new, and so the results of this inquiry are, somehow, both shocking and foreseeable in equal measure. At no point do the deaths of mothers and babies, some of the most vulnerable patients a hospital could encounter, become any easier to digest, but the known torment women go through to have their concerns taken seriously make it less immediately surprising. Endometriosis, a disorder causing uterine tissue to grow outside of the uterine cavity, is a condition both misunderstood and under-researched. Despite blighting 176 million people worldwide, funding for treatment is dismally lacking. In fact, it is often dismissed as ‘normal’ period pain. Worse still, gynaecologists have even refused to perform hysterectomies on childless women, even those in excruciating pain: ‘according to him I was too young to decide what was right for my body and my emotions were affecting my judgement.’
To seek quality medical care, women must consider if they can bear to face the uphill battle of being ‘believed’
When women voice their pain – physical, psychological, or otherwise – the question of ‘belief’ is often raised. At what point will we start asking how we can believe men when they say they are in pain? I have never once questioned the legitimacy of male reproductive health issues, and yet, to seek quality medical care, women must consider if they can bear to face the uphill battle of being ‘believed.’ From contraceptives to antenatal care, women are likely to evaluate the benefits of having their medical needs met, versus the potential humiliation of being belittled by those placed in charge of their wellbeing. Women wait longer for care that they are less likely to receive and are less likely to be taken seriously, something that is far beyond the scope of this report.
Perhaps the scariest thing about this inquiry’s findings – aside from the horrifying lack of care – is that its data ends in the pre-COVID era. How much worse did things get for mothers when they were viewed as even less of a priority? Full data does not yet exist for the impact coronavirus has had on maternity care since March, but anecdotal evidence alone is enough to paint an ugly picture. The depressingly ‘lonely’ experience of pregnancy became even more stark when the UK government reopened pubs and restaurants on 4 July, prior to allowing women to have their partners present during labour. Indeed, months later, the main topic of discussion seemingly remains the question of when those in Tier 3 restricted areas can, once again, go for a pint.
The Ockenden report cannot be something we collectively forget, as it reveals a pandemic that no vaccine can eradicate, and one that thousands of women have been sounding the alarm on for years. The laissez-faire attitude to women’s medical concerns is something that we cannot continue to ignore, if we are ever to move beyond these shameful findings. In a year when the NHS has been more important than ever, it is about time we were honest about its failings. No woman is ‘pathetic’ for needing help.
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