Inadequate maternity services for obese women
A recent survey carried out by the Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries, an independent research group which is partly funded by the NHS, showed that UK maternity units are short of basic equipment like extra-wide operating tables and beds. It also showed that obese pregnant women are not getting the right advice and assessments.
Higher risk of stillbirths, diabetes and pre-eclampsia
Obese mothers-to-be are at higher risk of a wide variety of complications, including stillbirths, diabetes and pre-eclampsia. They are also more likely to need caesareans and should therefore have assessments during pregnancy to see what special arrangements may have to be put in place.
Inadequate maternity units
The survey, which gathered information from 320 maternity units as well as a range of other midwife and obstetric services that come into contact with pregnant women, showed only half of places always offered these assessments. Only a third gave specific diet advice while 60% of maternity units did not have central records of what equipment they had available. And nearly half did not have official policies and guidelines for treating obese patients.
New guidelines for treating obese mothers-to-be
The findings come amid rising rates of obesity in pregnancy. One in five mothers-to-be are obese - double the proportion from a decade ago.
The Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries said it has teamed up with doctors to issue new guidelines to the NHS on treating obese mothers-to-be covering issues such as what assessments, support and advice should be given to the women. It has also asked services to ensure they have clear policies and the right resources in place.
Medical Negligence
Susan Brown a leading medical negligence solicitor from Reading based law firm Boyes Turner said: “We have dealt with several medical negligence compensation cases where a child has suffered brain injury as a result of failings in monitoring of the fetal heart rate during labour, where the mother has had a high BMI. It is true that it can be more difficult to monitor the fetal heart in a woman with a high BMI, but the recommendation for continuous midwifery care once the mother is in established labour with close survelliance and recourse to a fetal scalp electrode or ultrasound assessment of the fetal heart would probably avoid some of the brain injuries that we deal with.”
Consistent with our policy when giving comment and advice on a non-specific basis, we cannot assume legal responsibility for the accuracy of any particular statement. In the case of specific problems we recommend that professional advice be sought.
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