Women who gave birth in north Cumbria last year said they were treated with dignity, respect and kindness in the latest maternity survey published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) today (29 January).

The 2018 national survey looks at women’s experiences of maternity care. It asked women about their experiences during labour and birth and the quality of antenatal and postnatal support.

The survey for North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust (NCUH) covers the three maternity departments – Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle; West Cumberland Hospital, Whitehaven; and the birthing centre at Penrith Community Hospital. It includes responses from 127 women who gave birth in February 2018.

The survey looked at how the Trust performed against the national average for each question and across eight different areas. The trust performed better than the national average for feeding and home care after birth as well as for 13 other questions. For the remaining questions the Trust performed about the same as the national average and did not score below average in any areas.

The areas above the national average included:

• 98% said they were involved enough in decisions about their antenatal care
• 99% said they were treated with respect and dignity during labour and birth
• 99% were treated with kindness and understanding after the birth
• 98% said decisions about how they wanted to feed their baby were respected
• 91% were given enough information about any emotional changes they might experience after the birth and 84% of these were given information about who to contact for advice.

Ali Budd, director of nursing, midwifery & AHPs at NCUH and Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (pictured), commented:

“These are fantastic results and it’s great to hear about the positive experiences of women who use our services. The fact that we are performing about the national average in so many areas is down to the hard work, care and dedication of our brilliant team, so I’d like to take this opportunity to thank every one of them.

“There is always room for improvement and this survey also gives us an opportunity to look at where we can do better. We are committed to learning and continue to make improvements to ensure we deliver the best possible care to women in north Cumbria.”

The national survey includes responses from 17,611 women across 129 NHS acute trusts in England.

Notes:

The full report will be available at: www.cqc.org.uk/maternitysurvey