Should pregnant women be given a £3000 birth fund by the NHS?

The NHS England statement explicitly says that any woman needing urgent care because of complications would get it regardless of whether their personal budget had been spent.

Under the proposed scheme, women would receive advice and information regarding the services offered by local care providers.

Siva Anandaciva, head of analysis at NHS Providers, said: “Our members – NHS trusts and foundation trusts – tell us that the demand for obstetric and midwifery services is increasing, as well as the complexity of requirements with some mothers needing more specialised and costly care”.

Mums-to-be could opt for a hospital near work for routine scans, but a hospital closer to home for their baby’s birth, or choose a provider offering the same midwife throughout pregnancy, birth and postnatal care, the authors said.

But there was no explanation as to what happens if pregnant women go over their budget. Plans to overhaul the way money is spent on pregnant women come as a part of a shake-up in maternity care, aimed to give women greater autonomy over how they use the services available to them.

However, the plan has been compared to the controversial personal health budgets offered to those with disabilities or long-term conditions, which has been criticised after reports that some patients used the funds to pay for holidays or buy video games, say Sky News.

It is weird to see that the Royal College of Midwives, which only four months ago was complaining that overstretched and under-staffed maternity units across the country were closing their doors for lack of staff, has for some reason welcomed these latest proposals.

“And of course the pressure on services has increased enormously, and is still increasing, because of uncontrolled immigration”, she said. The budget would also allow for the use of birthing pools, hypnotherapy and one-to-one midwifery care.

At present, hospitals are not always admitting when something has gone wrong, the authors said.

According to the report, the varied quality of services led to serious incidents such as the deaths of 11 babies and a mother between 2004 and 2013 at Furness General Hospital in Barrow. “Safety is inconsistent across maternity services, and there is scope for significant improvement in many”.

The review by leading experts chaired by Baroness Julia Cumberlege concluded that maternity services in England had improved over the last 10 years but that changes were needed to improve things further.

The review highlights some stark concerns over the safety of maternity services, even though there have been drastic improvements in the last decade.