Hidden horror of childbirth on our maternity wards

Shocking and brave calls to Liveline revealed...

My mother Mabel will celebrate her 90th birthday next month, so when, a few years ago, she told me of her horrible experience in a maternity hospital, I presumed such stories related only to the distant past.

When she was 24 years of age she was admitted to the Rotunda for her first birth. During the difficult labour, my mother was slapped in the face by the midwife because she was screaming too much. Her sisters also told me that their mother went to the hospital to complain, but got no satisfaction.

My mother never visited a maternity hospital again; her five other children were born at home. She was looked after by the a legendary midwife in Ballyfermot – Nurse Dalton.

So I was shocked last week when one single phone call about a new mother’s treatment in a maternity hospital just 12 weeks ago unleashed a torrent of horrific stories of childbirth.

For eight days Liveline was dominated by searing accounts told with enormous courage, by women who suffered either mental or physical distress during childbirth and afterwards.

Some recent stories have focused on declining resources in our 19 maternity hospitals and units around the country. One mother spoke of spending two nights with a new baby in a private room and not being visited once by any medic.

Other new mothers told of being admonished for pressing the ‘call’ button – and instructed not to repeat unless the baby has turned ‘blue’. Of course, with about 60,000 births in Ireland every year, there will be difficulties, but these horror stories are too numerous and consistent to ignore.

Naturally, we heard the old story of the male consultant running off to play golf and giving

pain relief instructions over the phone from the clubhouse – then reappearing briefly after dinner in a tuxedo to proclaim that his patient would be ‘sectioned’ the following morning.

One thread running through the hundreds of calls, texts and emails we received was that women were not believed when they reported difficulties. One woman in great distress was told she was an ‘attention seeker’ by a midwife. Others were told to stop complaining. The most disturbing calls were from women who suffered savage wounds in childbirth. A number told of how years later – and after many surgeries – their pain has not eased.

For women to tell stories of the most intimate parts of their lives – and bodies – took huge courage. And it wasn’t just medical staff who were criticised; one woman told of how an administrator popped into her and her baby with the greeting: ‘You know this won’t get you citizenship.’ The woman was already an Irish citizen. One midwife on the show said mothers today ‘were not tolerant enough and expected VIP treatment’. In fairness, her biggest critic was another midwife.

Childbirth should be a time of joyous bonding. I know it’s a difficult process – but many of the complaints we heard could have been addressed by simple common humanity. We all need to check ourselves in our work life, none more so than medics. These stories were shocking to hear – and the silence of the medical profession in response is equally distressing.