75 per cent of maternity units denying women their right to choose Caesarean birth

Although NICE guidelines say women should be allowed to choose a planned Caesarean, it has recently emerged that mothers at 75 per cent of maternity units throughout the UK are being denied this right.

Under the guidelines, women “should be offered appropriate discussion and support, but ultimately, if they are making an informed choice, a Caesarean should be offered.”

The guidelines also stipulate that if an obstetrician tells a woman that they are unwilling to undertake an elective Caesarean, they should be referred to another who will.

What emerged from the research, which was carried out by charity Birthrights through a Freedom of Information Request, was that of 146 trusts that participated in the study, while 26 per cent fully complied with the guidelines, 15 per cent refused all elective Caesareans.

Chief executive of Birthrights, Rebecca Schiller, said there was a lot of confusion amongst women over whether or not a Caesarean would be permitted.

She said “Some women say they have had cost quoted at them – ‘You can’t have a Caesarean because it will cost too much,’ the trust might be fined, that the clinical commissioning groups themselves won’t fund those requests – but there doesn’t seem to be one reason.”

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Professor Baskaran Thilaganathan, said “I don’t think there is any circumstance under which, if you feel a women has been informed, understands her choices and chooses to, that you could deny her the right to do that.”

The Royal College of Midwives’ Gill Walton, said “Women must be given the information to explore their views and feelings about Caesarean birth, to enable them to come to an informed decision about their preferred type of birth.

“This information should reflect the woman’s current and previous medical, obstetric and psychological history.”

Chadwick Lawrence’s team of medical negligence lawyers have years of experience in high value and complex medical negligence compensation claims and have an excellent record. The team is led by Tony May, a specialist cerebral palsy and birth injury solicitor, who has over 20 years experience in handling cases in which babies have been brain damaged or sustained other injuries as a result of medical negligence. He and his team continue to represent many cerebral palsy children and young adults in medical negligence claims. Tony also acts as the Court of Protection Deputy for many of the cerebral palsy and brain damaged clients that he has represented, so we can continue to support you after your case is settled. Tony can be contacted by email on tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk. Alternatively, please call and speak to any of Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist medical negligence Legal Aid and no win-no fee solicitors for free legal advice on the freephone number below.

Freephone: 0800 304 7382

For further information, please see our cerebral palsy and birth injury website:
http://www.cerebralpalsyclaimssolicitors.co.uk