Women having ‘harrowing’ births as hospitals hide failures, says MPs’ report

UK birth trauma inquiry finds women variously mocked, ignored, fobbed off with paracetamol and left permanently damaged

Women in labour have been mocked, ignored, fobbed off with paracetamol and left with permanent damage by midwives and doctors, and hospitals have covered up their staff's failures, a damning report by MPs has found.

Mothers have been left with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), unable to bond with their baby and too incapacitated to go back to work because of horrendous experiences while having a child, the UK's first inquiry into birth trauma found.