Maternity Services project report

Healthwatch Wolverhampton undertook research into maternity care after receiving feedback from new mothers about the support they had received.  They undertook three focus groups and did an online survey.  They spoke to 68 people in total.

All but one had given birth in hospital. Nearly three quarters of these felt that the support they received after birth was good or very good.  Just over half felt that communications between health professionals and their partner or family was good or very good.  But three in ten felt it was poor or very poor, and comments in the focus groups identified that there was little support for partners.

Nearly 7 out of ten respondents felt that the time they spent in hospital was just right.  Most felt confident about returning home with their baby.  Those that didn’t felt they needed more information about day to day care of their babies.

Around two in five felt the support they received with feeding their baby was good or very good.  Over a quarter felt it was poor or very poor.  Focus group members had a mix of experiences.

Nearly two in five found it easy or very easy to contact their community midwife after they returned home. Three in five found that the support they got from their midwife was good or very good.  Over half found it easy or very easy to contact their health visitor, and just under half rated the handover between their midwife and health visitor as good or very good. However, there was some feedback about visits from midwives or health visitors being limited.

There were four recommendations about the need for support for partners, information on baby care, feeding support and home visits.