UK health trusts suspend home birth services as midwives shortage deepens

‘Crisis’ in maternity care leaves expectant mothers facing difficult births in hospital or without support at home

A severe shortage of midwives has led to home birth services being closed or reduced by a number of hospital trusts across the UK, with pregnant women frequently left in limbo as to where they will be able to give birth.

The Observer has found more than 20 trusts that have had disrupted home birth services in the past three months. Eight confirmed their services remain suspended due to staff shortages. They include East Kent Hospitals, Swansea Bay University Health Board and NHS Dumfries and Galloway – all of which report that the situation is under constant review.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus | The Guardian

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NSW Covid update: 65 new cases as GP clinics and pharmacies drive new spread of virus

Gladys Berejiklian says people should call ahead before visiting health services and warns of higher numbers tomorrow Follow our Covid live blog for the latest updates Latest NSW lockdown rules explained Full list of Covid exposure sites and hotspots in Sydney Download the free Guardian news app ; Get our morning email briefing People visiting GP clinics and pharmacies while infected have been identified as a new driver of the spread of Covid, particularly in south-west Sydney, prompting the premier to urge people to stay at home and call ahead before visiting health services. Cases announced today also include a Covid-positive patient who attended Liverpool hospital, and a staff member at Chris O’Brien Life House, a cancer centre in Sydney’s inner west. The latter case was picked up during routine testing of staff, and further urgent testing is under way. Continue reading... Coronavirus | The Guardian
Read more

Coronavirus live news: Japan towns abandon plans to accept overseas Olympic athletes

India reports 362,727 new infections, 4,120 deaths ; 40 towns in Japan decide not to accept overseas athletes ahead of olympics ; ‘Increasing concern’ over India variant in UK says Boris Johnson Boris Johnson under fire for delaying Covid public inquiry until 2022 UK: Reports that Sage will meet on Thursday to discuss India variant Scores more bodies of suspected Covid victims found in Indian rivers See all our coronavirus coverage 6.42am BST Coronavirus infections in England halved in recent months, according to a study, but concerns remain about the threat from new variants, PA reports. Prevalence of infections dropped by 50% between March and early May, and is at its lowest since August, new data suggests. But the figures come amid a warning from Boris Johnson that new variants “pose a potentially lethal danger”. The Prime Minister said there is “increasing concern” in the UK about the variant first identified in India. Professor Paul Elliott, director of Imperial Colle...
Read more

UK economy bouncing back stronger than expected amid savings boom

Expansion in second half of 2020 and increase in household savings raise hopes for recovery this year Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Britain’s recovery during the second half of last year was stronger than first estimated, according to official figures that also showed households put away more money in savings accounts than previous data suggested. In a series of revisions to its data covering the Covid 19 pandemic, the Office for National Statistics said the economy expanded by 16.9% and 1.3% in the third and fourth quarters of 2020 respectively. This marked steep increases on initial estimates of 16.1% and 1%. Continue reading... Coronavirus | The Guardian
Read more