THERE is a “culture that lacks compassion” at maternity wards in North Wales during Covid restrictions, a childbirth charity has claimed.

Staff are also alleged to have left Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) due to “not being able to deliver the care they want to”.

The concerns were raised in a letter from maternity rights charity Birthrights sent to Janet Finch-Saunders, MS for Aberconwy

The organisation, which is campaigning for changes to the Welsh Government's Covid-19 restrictions on partners being present at their child's birth, said it had received five complaints from patients from the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board region who were upset about the care they had received between April and June this year.

This included instances of mothers being denied the chance to have their partner by their side at the moment their baby is born, a restriction that remains in place to try to limit the spread of coronavirus in maternity wards.

BCUHB said it “flatly rejects” the “irresponsible claims” made by the organisation, adding they are a “very small number of concerns” compared to the “generally positive” feedback from more than 6,000 women its maternity staff care for annually.

In the letter sent, Birthrights said: “The accounts that we are reading are suggestive of a maternity culture that lacks compassion.

“We are aware of staff who have left through not being able to deliver the care they want to.”

The charity has also sent a letter to Health Minister Eluned Morgan on Tuesday to call for Covid-19 maternity guidance for health boards in Wales to be relaxed, claiming restrictions are "dnied the opportunity to care for and bond with their own baby during the first few days of life".

Mrs Finch-Saunders, who has also been critical of visitor restrictions at hospitals in North Wales during the pandemic, said she believes the health board “may be overstretched and need assistance” and called for an “urgent review” into maternity care across the region.

“Having raised concerns throughout the pandemic about the treatment at the Health Board, including instances where some mothers have been denied the opportunity to have their partner or another individual of their choice by their side, I am most alarmed to have now received further complaints about the maternity care provided by BCUHB,” the MS said.

“I have been informed that the Birthrights advice line has been contacted at least once, sometimes twice, every month since April 2021 about issues with care provision and lack of respect for dignity and human rights at hospitals operated by the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

“It is clear that the team may be overstretched and need assistance. As such, it is vital that an urgent review is undertaken to understand the problems highlighted, as well as their scale.

“This review should also feed into a much wider independent inquiry into the mismanagement of the Health Board, which remains top-heavy and plainly does not have enough resources going into frontline staff.”

BCUHB had been in special measures for five years until it was moved out by Health Minister Vaughan Gething in November last year.

It came despite a string of financial difficulties, management failings and growing waiting lists, as well as a damning report into a mental health unit at Glan Clwyd Hospital.

Teresa Owen, executive director responsible for BCUHB’s Women’s Services, said the level of concern raised by Mrs Finch-Saunders and Birthrights are “deeply unfair to our staff” who have worked in “challenging circumstances” during the pandemic.

“We flatly reject Birthrights’ claims that we have a maternity culture that lacks compassion and fails to respect dignity and human rights,” she said. “These are irresponsible claims, based on a very small number of concerns, relative to the 6,000+ women who give birth on our maternity units every year.

“They will cause unnecessary alarm to those who will use our maternity services, and may be feeling particularly vulnerable. It is also deeply unfair to our staff - who have been working extremely hard in challenging circumstances throughout the pandemic.

“Women’s feedback on their experiences of our maternity services is generally very positive and we treat any patient concerns with the seriousness they deserve. We understand that some of the concerns Birthrights have been dealing with relate to our maternity visiting arrangements earlier this year – which were necessary in order to keep staff and patients safe from the threat of COVID-19. We have since introduced revised visiting arrangements and seen a significant drop in concerns received.

“We would like to reassure patients that our maternity services are welcoming. We encourage Janet Finch-Saunders to allow us an opportunity to respond to her concerns.”