Now in the sixth month of my second pregnancy, I know from personal experience that different places can have very different approaches. The consequence of travelling each week between Westminster and my constituency is signing up for maternity care at both ends of the country. After all, it's hard to predict where I will be when labour starts. All mothers know that drawing up birth plans can prove pointless when labour takes a different course. Discussing epidurals with two sets of midwives proved doubly redundant but provided an interesting insight into the variations that exist.
Different units offer different tests at different points in pregnancy.
One of the first areas in which we are introducing national standards involves the screening and counselling support to be offered for certain tests in pregnancy and newborns so that parents have a proper, informed choice about which tests they want. Work is under way too on clinical standards around the management of labour, particularly when problems arise, including induction, fetal monitoring and Caesareans. Second, as investment in the NHS grows, we need to address the backlog in underinvestment that can have a huge impact on family experience. Staff are often working extremely hard, but having to contend with outdated, rundown facilities. Others have cramped labour wards that look more like Victorian operating theatres.