CQC: Maternity survey 2024 (28 November 2024)

Summary

This survey from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) looked at the experiences of pregnant women and new mothers who used NHS maternity services in 2024.

Women who gave birth between 1 and 29 February 2024 (and during January if a trust did not have a minimum of 300 eligible births in February) were invited to participate. Fieldwork took place between May and August 2024, and responses were received from 18,951 people, The survey shows some areas of improvement over the past year, particularly regarding access to mental health support during pregnancy. However, there remain other aspects of maternity care where people report a poorer experience and where analysis indicates a longer term decline in positive feedback over time, including communication during labour and birth, information provided during care in hospital after birth and involvement in postnatal care.

Content

Positive results

Antenatal care

• More women were asked about their mental health during antenatal check-ups (76% said they were ‘definitely’ asked compared with 75% in 2023). There has been steady improvement seen in this question area over the past five years.
• Eighty-nine per cent of people surveyed said they received mental health support as part of their antenatal care compared with 88% in 2023, and 85% in 2022.
• Most of those surveyed (83%) also said that their midwives ‘always’ listened to them, that they were ‘always’ spoken to in a way they could understand (88%), and they were ‘always’ involved in decisions about their antenatal care (80%).

Labour and birth

• More people surveyed felt they were given appropriate information on the risks associated with an induced labour prior to being induced (74% in 2024 compared with 69% in 2023).

Postnatal care

• Respondents reporting that their partner or someone else close to them was able to stay as much as they wanted in hospital after the birth increased from 56% in 2023 to 63% in 2024.

Key areas for improvement

Confidence and trust

• Fewer people said they ‘definitely’ had confidence and trust in the staff providing their antenatal care (70% in 2024 compared with 71% in 2023), during labour and birth (77% in 2024 compared with 78% in 2023) and postnatally (69% in 2024 compared with 72% in 2023).

Communications and interactions with staff

• A quarter (25%) of respondents felt they did not have the opportunity to ask questions after their baby was born.
• Only 58% of people surveyed said they were ‘always’ given the information and explanations needed in hospital after birth (compared to 60% in 2023).
• Fewer people reported ‘always’ feeling listened to by staff providing postnatal care after leaving hospital (75% in 2024 compared with 77% in 2023).

Availability of staff

• There has been a five-year downward trend in the number of people reporting that they were ‘always’ able to get help from staff during labour and birth (64% in 2024 and 72% in 2019) and in those who said they were ‘always’ spoken to by staff in a way they could understand (85% in 2024 and 90% in 2019).
• Just over half (60%) of people surveyed said they saw or spoke to a midwife as much as they wanted after the birth (down from 63% in 2023).