Atkins saw ‘dark corners’ of the NHS during early birth

THE Health Secretary has said she experienced “the darker corners of the NHS” while waiting to give birth.

Victoria Atkins said that a lack of hospital facilities to deal with women suffering complications in pregnancy meant she was left sharing a ward with mothers who had suffered “hellish agony” and birth trauma.

Addressing the Women’s Health Summit in London, Ms Atkins said the “frightening” experience – having been rushed into hospital to have her baby delivered early – gave her an insight into the “deeply worrying” situation.

She told the meeting of clinicians and women’s health campaigners that she had seen the “very best” of the NHS, after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of three, but that she has also seen “some of its dark corners”.

Ms Atkins said she wants to ensure women who need extra assistance in birth do not face the fear she had faced.

“I absolutely get it, and it is very much personal for me,” she said, setting out her policies to boost maternity care, including a £50 million fund.

Ms Atkins said 293 women had died while pregnant, or within 42 days after pregnancy, between 2020 and 2022. She said: “That number means 293 families are grieving the profound loss of a mother who will also be someone’s daughter, partner, wife, sister or friend.

She said their babies who lived “will never know more of their mothers cuddle or the tinkle of her laughter or the limitless love we have for our children.

She said that not all the deaths were linked to poor maternity care “but many will be and this must stop”.

The impact of “problem periods” at work will also be investigated as part of a drive to show “a woman’s sex matters”.

Writing in The Telegraph yesterday, Ms Atkins said women’s health issues had been “overlooked and under-researched” for too long and she pledged to mount a “call to arms”.