HUNGRY MOTHERS, dirty wards and poor care continue to affect maternity services in England, while staff in some units face death threats, according to a new update from the review led by Baroness Amos.
Baroness Amos, who is heading the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, said what she had seen so far "has been much worse" than she anticipated.
Speaking to BBC R4's Today programme, she said she was "confident... that change will happen" as a result of the review. She said she did not have the powers of a statutory public inquiry but was looking for "systemic changes" to improve care across hospital trusts.
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She said she had heard accounts of women "being left in... rooms for hours on end" and that "women are bleeding out in bathrooms". She added that she was examining the worst cases and that "there is lots of good care out there" with many trusts doing a "good job".
Health secretary Wes Streeting, who commissioned the review, said "the systemic failures causing preventable tragedies cannot be ignored". He said the update showed "too many families have been let down".
The interim report highlights concerns after previous inquiries produced 748 recommendations without sustained improvements.
The review has seen cases of poor cleanliness, women not receiving meals or assistance, women not being listened to and discriminatory care affecting women of colour, working class women and women with mental health problems.
It also found examples of NHS organisations "marking their own homework" when babies died or were harmed, reported the BBC.
The review heard from staff who reported rotten fruit being thrown at them and receiving death threats. Some staff said adverse publicity made care harder but also acted as a catalyst for improvement.
Streeting will chair a new National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce in the New Year. Maternity campaigner James Titcombe said the issues identified "mirror long-standing problems" but that he supported the review.
