MP who thought she was 'going to die' during childbirth is on a mission to help others with trauma

Theo Clarke said that it was “vitally important” that women receive the care and support they need after a traumatic birth.

It comes after a poll of members of the Mumsnet community found that more than half who had suffered birth trauma said their experience put them off having more babies.

The MP for Stafford has previously spoken out about her own birth story, where she described how she thought she was “going to die” after a 40-hour labour giving birth to her first child Arabella last year. She suffered a third degree tear and needed emergency surgery.

Speaking previously about the experience, the MP said she was subjected to “totally unacceptable behaviour” at Royal Stoke University Hospital, including being told “not my baby, not my problem” after pressing the call button for help.

She added: "It was definitely the most terrifying experience of my entire life. I thought I was going to die.

"I don’t want any mum to go through what I had and be lying in bed and pressing the emergency button saying you need help and it’s not coming,"

Ms Clarke, who has since received an apology, did praise the team who carried out the surgery and her midwives, but is calling for better aftercare. She has since been given an apology.

Ms Clarke was praised by MPs from all parties for having the courage to speak about her own situation.

She has since set up an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Birth Trauma to try to highlight the plight of thousands of women who suffer similar situations each year.

A poll of 1,000 members of the Mumsnet website, released today, found that 79 per cent of those surveyed had experienced birth trauma.

While the poll does not represent all mothers across the UK, it provides a snapshot of the experiences of those who use the popular parenting site.

The survey also found that 72 per cent of those who had experienced birth trauma said their issue had not been resolved a year after giving birth.

Among those who had experienced physical, emotional or psychological birth trauma, 44 per cent said healthcare professionals used language which implied they were “a failure or to blame” for the experience.

Three quarters of all of those polled said they felt that health professionals had become “desensitised” to birth trauma.

Almost two thirds said they did not believe healthcare workers did everything they could to prevent birth trauma.

And 64 per cent said they felt a “lack of compassion” from healthcare professionals during labour.

Commenting on the poll, Ms Clarke said: “These survey results are deeply upsetting. They speak to my own experience of birth trauma and quite clearly to many, many other women’s horrendous experiences too.

“That more than half of women across the UK who responded say they are less likely to want another child because of their birth experiences and they were made to feel they were to blame is simply terrible.

“The survey is clear that more compassion, education and better after-care for mothers who suffer birth trauma are desperately needed if we are to see an improvement in mums’ physical wellbeing and mental health.

“The APPG is now up and running in Parliament and will continue to listen to mothers and experts to drive fundamental change in how we treat mums. Our ambition is for birth trauma to be included in the Government’s women’s health strategy.

“It is vitally important women receive the help and support they deserve.”

Mumsnet chief executive Justine Roberts said: “We hear daily on Mumsnet from women who have had deeply upsetting experiences of maternity care, and this latest research underlines that the majority of mothers experience birth trauma – whether physical or psychological.

“This trauma has long-lasting effects and it’s clear that women are being failed at every stage of the maternity care process – with too little information provided beforehand, a lack of compassion from staff during birth, and substandard postnatal care for mothers’ physical and mental health.”

Kim Thomas, chief executive of the Birth Trauma Association, added: “It is time for a complete overhaul in the way women experience maternity. This should include: honest, evidence-based antenatal education; compassionate and professional care during labour; and postnatal care that is designed to identify and treat every birth injury or mental health problem. A maternity system that puts women at the heart of care is not some kind of unfeasibly high goal – it is the bare minimum that women have the right to expect.”

The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached.