Manchester Neonatal lawyer on UK maternity crisis

03/05/2007

Leading Neonatal Lawyer, Stephanie Forman, has today welcomed the BBCs expose on the UKs maternity unit crisis.

Desperate Midwives, the Panorama investigation that is due to be aired tonight, (Thursday 3rd May at 8pm on BBC 1) highlights the crisis in maternity care at hospitals across the UK.

According to the report, maternity units across the country are under resourced and overstretched. The programme follows undercover reporter, Hayley Cutts as she worked as a volunteer on two maternity units, including St Marys Hospital in Manchester.

Stephanie Forman from the Manchester office of national law firm Irwin Mitchell, who represents both mothers and babies, said that she has witnessed a growing trend towards under resourcing over the last five years and believes that many units are at crisis point.

Continuing she said: As I believe the programme highlights, the ratio of midwives to women in many units is dangerously high “ the situation is unacceptable and is without a doubt compromising the safe delivery of new born babies.

Stephanie represents a mother who lost her baby during birth and one of the contributing facts was the deployment of staff into another department that was under resourced.

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