Findings of first ever National Maternity Experience Survey published

The results of the new National Maternity Experience Survey show that 85% of participants had either a good or a very good experience of maternity care in Ireland.

Most women who took part said that they were treated with respect and dignity, and had confidence and trust in staff. Participants spoke very highly of the midwives and staff who cared for them, both in hospital and in the community.

While most women reported positively on their experiences of maternity care, 15% did not. The period shortly after birth was highlighted as an area requiring improvement — a number of women said that they were not involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care after birth, and commented that staff were often too busy to help them or answer their questions. Some women said that they did not receive the physical, mental and emotional supports that they needed at this time, and would have liked more assistance to feed their baby.

HIQA’s Director of Health Information and Standards Rachel Flynn said: “Our maternity services must be responsive to the needs of women. Thousands of babies are born in Ireland each year to women who will all have a unique story to tell about their care during pregnancy, childbirth and at home with a newborn baby.

“It is only by listening and learning from the experiences of mothers that we can bring about effective and sustainable changes to our maternity services, and put women and their babies at the centre of maternity care. I wish to thank all of the women who took the time to respond to the survey and share their experiences of maternity care.”

Find out more about the results of the 2020 National Maternity Experience Survey here.