Undercover Mother

Dispatches investigates the overstretched maternity services which are resulting in new mothers having traumatic births and at worst, putting lives at risk.

The Government has pledged to provide one-to-one care for mothers and a choice of having a home-birth with two healthcare professionals in attendance. But Dispatches uncovers a critical shortage of midwives at a time when the number of births is at a record high and conditions far from the promised 'gold-standard'.

Reporter Tazeen Ahmad goes undercover to film her post-natal treatment following the birth of her second child by caesarean section. She returns to the same NHS hospital in which she underwent a traumatic first birth to see if conditions have improved and film the reality facing mums-to-be in Britain in 2007.

Tazeen finds her post-natal ward under-resourced and midwifery staff so under pressure they openly admit they can only offer patients 'the basics.' She and her husband struggle with a lack of fundamental communication and sufficient post-natal treatment and support from hospital staff - despite Tazeen being in recovery from surgery and having serious concerns about the health of her newborn son.

A midwifery teacher who is shown the secretly-filmed footage says: "This kind of experience is not going to help the way women recover mentally from their childbirth experience...eventually a woman will snap and it's very unfortunate that this is postnatal care in the UK today."

Tazeen interviews other women who have been left shell-shocked by their birth experiences after missing-out on the reassuring presence of a midwife for much of their labours. One woman, Vicky, aged 25 describes it as: "frightening" and "horrible" and likens the experience to being in a plane or train crash. Dispatches meets a mother who paid the ultimate price for staff being placed under too much pressure - the life of her baby girl.

Dispatches is given exclusive access to new research which suggests a lack of community midwives could be having devastating consequences for mums-to-be.

The film also features interviews with leading authorities on midwifery who express grave concerns about the lack of investment and monitoring of maternity services and the impact on mothers and babies.

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