Covid pandemic births: Mothers 'pitted against midwives'

Women have spoken to the BBC about the "nightmare" of giving birth during the restrictions imposed because of Covid.

The London Assembly was told a de facto maternity ward ban on partners meant new mums often got very little support.

Campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed said elective Caesareans spiked, as women tried to find a way to have their partner by their side.

Patient care also suffered as maternity units struggled with what a midwifery group said was a 40% staff absence.

A London Assembly health committee review of Covid pandemic pregnancy care has heard that more than three-quarters of the some 110,000 women who gave birth in the capital in 2020 were believed to have done so without their partner's support.

Joeli Brearley, director of Pregnant then Screwed, said elective Caesarean rates increased from 15% to 24%: "Women were requesting severe surgery simply so their partner could be there."

Suzanne Tyler, from the Royal College of Midwives, agreed that London hospitals were badly affected by staff shortages.

"At its worst, staffing was 40% down," she said. "The babies didn't stop coming during Covid but services did have to be rationalised."

Dr Tyler, who said the pandemic "ended up pitting midwives against women", criticised "confusing... contradictory" advice from the government and NHS England that "kept changing".

Three mothers have spoken to the BBC about their experience.

Phillippa Guillou was left with post-traumatic stress disorder, suffering flashbacks and nightmares, after the birth of her daughter Arabella in July 2020.

She said she was left alone and in fear for hours as she struggled through labour at Queen Charlotte's in Hammersmith, where her husband Ollie was not allowed to be by her side.

Phillippa was so desperate to see him that at one point she "dragged" herself out to the car park in "full-on" labour, but the effort was too much for her and she vomited outside the entrance before being taken back inside.

Back on the ward, and still without her husband to soothe her, she had a panic attack that preceded a cascade of surgical interventions she had planned to avoid.

"It was truly awful," she said. "I genuinely believed I was going to die because it had been such a long time on my own.

"Labour feels like it's never-ending and after six hours I'd got myself into such a state I had an epidural."

Arabella was immediately taken away to intensive care for resuscitation, while Ollie was sent home and Philippa was left alone in a room for 16 hours.

"I couldn't get to her," she said. "I just felt totally abandoned... you would press the buzzer and nobody would come.

"My baby was crying and I couldn't reach her because I was too beat up and still recovering."

Phillippa was in hospital for a week without the help she needed, something she said was "a nightmare" when her baby had an undiagnosed severe tongue tie that made breastfeeding impossible for the first few months.

"Women shouldn't have been on their own," she said. "It's totally cruel to think someone shouldn't have someone with them."

The absence of a partner is not just about comfort, Phillippa said, but has a direct impact on the health and wellbeing of the parents.

"My birth didn't go well because I was so stressed and scared and anxious on my own," she said. "If I had just had my husband with me from the beginning, things would have played out differently.

"He was there when she physically came out but that wasn't the bit I needed him for - I needed him to be there for support and to advocate for me throughout."

While Phillippa struggled particularly with being left alone in the run-up to the birth, Sophie Fraser had a worse time after the birth.

Sophie's baby Margot, born at 38 weeks, was immediately taken to intensive care at Whipps Cross Hospital because she needed to be resuscitated.

Although Sophie and her partner Alisdair were able to visit her briefly a couple of hours later, after 24 hours they were moved off intensive care and over to the Mulberry ward, where there was no visiting in August 2020.

Margot was on the ward for a week and Sophie was alone and exhausted trying to care for her, with nobody even to hold the newborn, and midwives unable to help because they were so busy.

"There were no visits at all," she said. "There were no midwives available to help with anything because they were so busy.

"Margot had jaundice and was on a strict feeding schedule so I was having to express milk, sterilise bottles and feed her all the time when I was just exhausted."

Father Alisdair couldn't be with his wife and child for seven nights, barring a brief visit on the intensive care ward, although Sophie said he was "lucky" to have been able to be there for the birth itself.

"I know a lot of people missed the birth, especially if it was sudden," she said. "I felt quite bad for Alisdair though, as he was supposed to be on paternity leave but just had to go back to work and he was by himself too.

"It would have been nice for them to make allowances for those who had to stay more than 24 hours."

Another mum, Nicola, spent five hours in labour without any pain relief in A&E at Queen Charlotte in Hammersmith before being told a bed could not be found.

She was only able to text her husband the news as he had to wait in the car park. At first he thought she must have misunderstood due to "going a bit loopy in labour".

When they were told they must go to St Mary's in Paddington, they drove off but had no idea what to do when they got there and could not find a car park.

"We literally abandoned the car in the middle of the road with the doors open," she said. "That was the level of panic.

"We finally found where we were supposed to be going and they said, 'we're not expecting you', and I flipped because at this point I'd been in labour for 10 hours."

Although the midwife who supported Nicola through the birth was "absolutely brilliant", she said the aftercare was "just horrendous".

"I had quite a traumatic birth and needed a couple of hours of surgery after the baby was born," she said.

"My husband was just handed the baby and told to wait for me and then we only had an hour together before he was told to leave again.

"That night was probably the worst night of my life... I felt totally abandoned."

Having had an epidural and being unable to walk, Nicola was wheeled up to a dark ward and left alone with a newborn baby and "no idea what I was supposed to do".

Unable to get out of bed, she pushed the buzzer for assistance when her baby started crying and was confronted by a "really angry" nurse.

"She reluctantly changed her nappy and put her clothes on," she said. "There was zero support from the midwives themselves and nobody was coming to see me.

"I said to my husband: 'I'm not staying another night because I'm not receiving any care.'

"I wasn't expecting a rosy experience but I was expecting not to be alone."