Seven easy ways to make maternity care safer for women – and save them from the trauma I suffered

I’m just one of many mums who still replays the callousness and lack of care I experienced on an NHS maternity ward seven years later, writes Alexis Paton – which is why I’ve made it my mission to do something about it

‘As we wait for the full report, I am reminded not just of my own hurts, but of all the maternity reports that have come before’ (PA)

“Just get it yourself,” was the answer, the first time I asked for water in postnatal recovery.

“You again,” said another. “You’re supposed to get up and start walking around. It helps.” And just like that, she was gone.

But I could not get up. Thanks to an epidural, I was frozen from the waist down. The midwives had placed all my belongings behind my bed – and the baby just out of reach. Only a plea to bring her closer in order to breastfeed finally made the penny drop that I could not, in fact, even move to feed my own child. It’s been well over seven years, but I see it and replay that callousness in my mind clearly, even today.