Our thanks to Tess Green of Take the Cake Ltd for presenting maternity staff with a beautiful cake to celebrate their success.

A total of 242 service users took part in the survey, which invited them to rate their antenatal care, experience of labour and birth, and postnatal care.

Kingston Hospital and Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare’s Chief Nurse, Nic Kane, said: “We are delighted with the results of the National Maternity Survey 2021, which reflect the great dedication of our maternity teams at a time of significant challenge due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I am proud of the outstanding care that my colleagues deliver on a daily basis to the women of South West London and their families, and I would to thank them for all that they do. I would also like to thank everyone who responded to the survey, your feedback is so important to us.”

Key results for Kingston Hospital, which were published in February as part of the survey’s national benchmarked findings, include:

Antenatal care:
• 100% said they were spoken to in a way they could understand
• 99% felt involved enough in decisions about their care
• 99% said they were given the help the needed by midwives
• 97% of service users said that had enough time to ask questions or discuss their pregnancy

Experience of labour and birth:
• 100% of staff introduced themselves during labour and birth
• 99% were spoken to in a way they could understand
• 97% felt they were involved in decisions about care
• 96% said a birthing partner was involved as much as wanted

Postnatal care:
• 99% of respondents felt listened to by midwives once they were back at home
• 97% said their found their decisions about to how to feed their baby were respected by midwives
• 96% had confidence and trust in postnatal midwives
• 88% of respondents found that their partner was able to stay with them as long as they wanted following birth

Benchmark reports for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) National Maternity Survey 2021 can be viewed here:
Maternity Survey Benchmark Reports

The response rate to the survey at Kingston Hospital was above the national average among NHS maternity services, with 66% of service users taking part.