Your Maternity Rights

This page relates to your rights as a user of NHS maternity services. If you are interested in employment rights or your entitlement to benefits please visit the following links:

• Department of Trade and Industry for information on employment law relating to maternity rights
  
  
• Department of Work and Pensions (formerly the Department of Social Security) for details on maternity benefits
  
  
• Working Families, an independent national charity giving information and specialist advice on maternity rights and benefits. Their information line phone number is 020 7253 7243
  
  

Until recently, your maternity rights were set out in the Patient’s Charter (and in England and Northern Ireland, in a separate charter for Maternity Services). However the position on the Patient’s Charter is changing.

The NHS in England has now produced a new document called "Your Guide To The NHS". This has replaced the English Patient’s Charter as from 26/1/2001. However, it does not replace the Maternity Services Charter

Many of the rights that were laid out in the original Charter are no longer mentioned in the new document, which can be downloaded from http://www.nhs.uk/nhsguide/nhs_guide.pdf (1MB pdf file). Some NHS Trusts have produced their own local charters.

For Wales, a health and social care charter will be published, making clear to the public how they can access health and what their rights and responsibilities they have within the NHS. Local services will issue their own charters. The publication of the charter has been delayed.

Scotland has not replaced their Patient's Charter first produced in 1991 which can be read at http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/servicefirst/1998/list/scopat.htm but local Scottish health boards have each produced their own local charters.

Northern Ireland has no immediate plans to replace the existing version which can be read at http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/servicefirst/1998/list/nipatien.htm.

The Maternity Services Charter gives the following as your rights:

• You can expect to be able to see your health records and you may keep your maternity records during the pregnancy if you choose. The NHS has a legal duty to keep these records confidential.
• You can ask to have any proposed treatment explained to you including any alternative treatment, the risks as well as the benefits. You should be given time to think about this.
• You may choose to have your partner, and/or a relative or friend at the birth.
• It is your choice how to feed your baby. The health staff should support that choice.
• Your religious and cultural beliefs should be respected.
• Your privacy should be respected and your dignity preserved.

In addition, you should be able to do the following:

• choose to change your GP.
• book your maternity care directly with a midwife, without the need to see your GP
• choose whether to have your baby at home, in a community birth unit or in a hospital.
• If you choose to have your baby in a hospital then you should be able to choose which one.
• choose whether or not you wish to take part in medical research or medical student training.
• choose to refuse any proposed treatment.

Complaints Procedures

If you are having difficulty arranging the maternity care you want or would like help to complain about maternity care you have received, then contact Association for Improvements in Maternity Services (AIMS). AIMS provide information about your choices and rights, and will also give emotional support and encouragement.

If during your labour you are unhappy with the service you are receiving then you should ask to see the Supervisor of Midwives.

If you wish to complain about your maternity care or any treatment you received then you should start by making sure you have a copy of all your medical records from the hospital, including handwritten records, computer records and any memos or letters relating to your case. Once you have done that, you can contact AIMS, or contact the hospital, or ring one of the following numbers for advice on how to proceed.

If you go to a meeting at the hospital to discuss your complaint, make sure that you are accompanied by a sympathetic person who was not involved at the time. Make sure also that you receive minutes of any meeting and that they reflect accurately what happened.

You should expect to receive a full written explanation and an apology if appropriate.