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Almost a third of maternity units shut doors temporarily

Whilst it is shocking to hear that the RCM (Royal College of Midwives) found that almost one third of maternity units had to shut their doors temporarily during the last year the reasons given are unfortunately not surprising.

Staff shortages, cuts to maternity services budgets and more complex births are all factors which senior midwives themselves identified as reasons for units to close their doors to patients but sadly these are things we have commented on time and again.

I fear that matters will unfortunately only get worse and it is mothers and babies who will suffer as a result, however, despite these awful statistics the rates of babies suffering serious birth injuries has not increased, remaining stable over recent years which is something to be thankful for.

Giving birth is a stressful time for any family but the added worry of injury associated with insufficient staff or maternity units should not be something new parents have to deal with and I hope that improvements can be made so no families have to endure the heartbreak some of our clients have been through due to injuries suffered at birth.

Hannah Bottomley is a clinical negligence solicitor with PotterReesDolan. Should you have any queries about clinical negligence issues and wish to speak with Hannah or any other member of the team please contact us on 0161 237 5888.