For many future moms, giving birth in a hospital is not their greatest wish, but they have no option of doing it elsewhere because they cannot afford a private birth. Well, today the National Health System of the United Kingdom (NHS) announced that will give pregnant women a budget of three thousand pounds (about 3800 euros) to pay for the birth they choose, in a plan to deal with criticism for the poor attention received in public maternity hospitals.
This will give many women the option of giving birth outside hospitals and choosing home births, or in private centers attended by midwives with alternative therapies such as hypnoparts or water births, without having to pay for it from their own pocket.
Why has this decision been made?
The decision was made based on an independent investigation of safety and comfort in childbirth care commissioned by the NHS and published last year after the death of 11 babies and a mother in hospitals for a sum of medical errors.
The review showed that Britain's fetal death rates are almost the worst in Western Europe, and that compensation for malpractice has doubled in the last decade.
On the one hand, safety in childbirth has been called into question, with which with this new measure they try to improve the quality in that sense, also taking into account that a home delivery costs less money than a hospital birth and that giving birth at home is an option recommended as safe by the British service.
On the other, you want to save money on compensation for medical errors. In the last year, more than one billion pounds were paid as compensation to the families of babies who died or suffered serious brain injuries due to birth errors.
A "custom" budget of three thousand pounds
It is a "personal budget" system that already works on services used by the elderly, the disabled and people with long-term illnesses, such as heart disease.
Pregnant women can choose between different services that must be offered by accredited sites or personnel in the public health system and that could include:
- obstetrics service with personalized attention during pregnancy and childbirth
- home delivery
- the use of a birthing pool
- Alternative therapies to relieve anxiety and pain (hypnosis, acupuncture, etc.)
- breastfeeding support after birth
Money will not be given directly to pregnant women, but will be helped to create a birth plan that fits the budget. The details are not yet fully resolved, but considering that a normal low-risk delivery costs about three thousand pounds, pregnant women will have that figure to cover the delivery expenses they choose, although it could be more if special circumstances occurred.
Reduce hospital deliveries
The objective of the measure is to reduce hospital deliveries and give women more options when choosing how and where she wants to give birth.
Currently, nine out of ten women in the United Kingdom give birth in a hospital, but only one in four says it is what they really want.
In 2014, 87% of births in England were carried out in the hospital, 11% in small units attended by midwives and 2% in the home.
After a trial period that will be launched later this year in four regions of the country, The new system will begin to work nationwide in 2017.
