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ITN
'Conveyor belt' maternity units
'Conveyor belt' maternity units
Pressure on beds may be pushing new mothers out of hospital too early.According to research carried out for The Sunday Telegraph, more than half of women are going home within a day of giving birth.The figures have risen from 21 per cent to 51 per cent over the past 15 years.The increase in the number of mothers leaving hospital early comes at a time when the birth rate in England and Wales is at a 21-year high.Some midwives have described overstretched maternity units as "conveyor belts" struggling to cope with demand.They have said they have been forced to send mothers home before they had properly recovered from labour and become comfortable with basic baby care.Meanwhile, parenting groups have said many mothers are keen to be discharged as soon as possible as they found wards were busy, noisy and poorly staffed, and many were concerned about the risk of infections like MRSA.
ITN | April 27, 2008
