Postnatal care cuts ‘are a cause for concern’

The cuts made to the provision of postnatal care to mothers have been described as a potentially problematic issue for UK healthcare.

Sarah Montagu, admin secretary for the Association of Radical Midwives (ARM), stated that the extent to which this area is seeing its funding curtailed is "foolish", due to the importance of providing women with information on how to care for their children.

She highlighted the issue of breastfeeding as one area in which better information is required, as many mothers are unaware of how much of an advantage it provides in health terms compared to using formula.

Ms Montagu said it is the responsibility of health professionals to provide information on these matters to ensure women are able to make educated choices and decisions.

"It makes no sense at all to be cutting the amount of help that women get and the amount of support that they get," she said.

Her comments come as part of the ARM's wider efforts to ensure UK women have access to more individually-tailored and sympathetic maternity care options.