A survey conducted by Pregnant Then Screwed with over 4106 women who had given birth between the 8th October and the 8th December found that roughly 2,500 women had given birth alone due to hospital restrictions. Of the roughly half of hospital births that are not induced, seven per cent are being subjected to lone births. The majority were across all regions of England.
Meanwhile, nearly half of women who were induced in England without their partner present until the very end spent more than 24 hours alone in the maternity ward while in labour.
One in three spent more than 48 hours in maternity wards alone, banned from having their partners by their sides.
60% of women who were induced were not able to have their birth partner with them. Of those 48% spent more than 24 hours on their own with 30% spending at least 48 hours on their own 90% of these women said that this was too long to be without their partner
For those who went into labour spontaneously: 37% said that when they arrived at the hospital their partner was not with them while they were assessed by the midwife and 24% said they did some of their labour on their own. 16% of women said they were in labour for more than 9 hours and 38% were in labour for more than 2 hours on their own.61% said this added to their stress and anxiety. A quarter said they did not feel listened to when in labour on their own with only just over a half (53%) saying they did feel listened to. 7.3% of women gave birth without their partner present 48% said their birth partner felt they were unable to give the support they wanted to give during labour/birth due to the COVID restrictions.
Joeli Brearley, CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed said:
‘’The good news is that the number of women who are on their own for the early stages of labour has decreased. However, it is clear that too many women are still spending long periods of time on their own when they are in labour and far too many women are giving birth without their partner present. This is completely unacceptable. We appreciate that making hospitals safe spaces for staff and patients is challenging but it is not impossible. No-one is taking responsibility for this, resulting in thousands of traumatised women, and parents who have missed out the birth of their child. Pregnant women are vulnerable, giving birth can be life threatening, and families must not be torn apart during this critical and life changing event – we need to see action on this now.’’
