Hospitals probed for refusing to give mums epidurals

Amid fears over ‘cult of natural birth’...

AN investigation into a ‘cult of natural childbirth’ across the Nhs has been ordered as a rising number of women in labour are being refused pain relief and left in agony.

expectant mothers say they were told ‘it’s not called labour for nothing – it’s meant to be hard work’ and ‘if you were my wife I wouldn’t let you’ as medics refused their requests.

Campaigners say some women are so traumatised by being denied pain relief they develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTsD) and are left too afraid to have any more children.

Official guidelines from the National Institute for health and Care excellence (Nice) state that women must be able to access pain relief – including an epidural – when they ask for it.

But an investigation by The sunday Telegraph identified six Nhs trusts where women pleading for pain relief were refused it.

health secretary Matt hancock has demanded an inquiry, saying he will ensure that women’s choices are respected.

Charities have also called for action over the issue.

The Birth Trauma Association (BTA) estimates 20,000 women in the UK each year develop PTsD after having a traumatic childbirth. One of the main risk factors of trauma is poor pain relief.

Kim Thomas, chief executive of the BTA, told the Daily Mail: ‘We do have many women coming to us saying they were denied pain relief. It can be incredibly traumatic if women are told [that].

‘some women are left so traumatised that they insist on a Csection [caesarean] when having a subsequent child while, in some severe cases, they do not want to have another child at all.’

Mr hancock said: ‘ It’s vital this guidance is being followed right across our Nhs, as part of making it the best place in the world to give birth. Women being denied pain relief is wrong and we will be investigating.’ It comes as figures from Nhs Digital show that the number of women given pain relief during childbirth fell from 67 per cent in 2008-2009 to 61 per cent in 2018-2019.

Campaigners are concerned an emphasis on ‘natural childbirth’ means that women have increasingly been refused pain relief.

Jessica Cohen, 30, who gave birth at homerton University hospital,

‘Women left traumatised’

east London, in 2018, said she was repeatedly refused an epidural and was chastised for asking.

she said: ‘When I asked again, they told me I was too far along and that the baby would be here soon. After the anaesthetist came in, he said, “Why do you want an epidural? You’re 10cm dilated, if you were my wife I wouldn’t let you”.’

Another woman said: ‘There’s a cult of natural childbirth, which is pushing people to do it without pain relief.’

A thread on parents website Mumsnet titled ‘Anyone else tricked out of epidural?’ has attracted more than 1,000 replies. It is full of women complaining they were refused pain relief despite ‘begging’ for an epidural.

One woman said she asked six times but was ‘ ignored and treated like a small child’.

Clare Murphy, from the Pregnancy Advisory service, said: ‘Pain management is not a nice-to have optional extra for women giving birth – it is an essential part of high-quality maternity care.’

In 2017, the Royal College of Nursing dropped a lengthy campaign for ‘normal birth’ fearing it gave the wrong impression and left women who sought medical interventions feeling like failures.

A spokesman for homerton University hospital Nhs Foundation Trust said: ‘When pain relief is requested, this is provided in a timely and appropriate manner.’