Kay Sheldon

We are spending over £2billion on caesareans, & rising. Over half are medically unnecessary. That money would be better spent on re-establishing services across the maternity pathway. This would also improve other outcomes like mortality e.g. as between 2005-14.

The evidence supporting breastfeeding, particularly during the early days, is strong. It doesn’t have to be exclusive. Women have less support with feeding due to the decimation of maternity services. Many of the re-admissions over the past decade could’ve been avoided

It’s happening because of the decimation of maternity services before, during & post birth. If we didn’t spend over £2billion on caesareans & rising, there would be more support for mothers - including with feeding & monitoring for problems.

@unherd @beccasteinfeld

Exactly. Reasons for soaring re-admissions are driven by the decimation of maternity services before, during & after birth. Caesareans have soared during this time, driven by the culture of fear, costing an eye-watering £2 billion & rising. Half are medically necessary 🤯

Breastfeeding policy is evidence-based not ideology. The main driver for soaring neonatal readmissions is the decimation of maternity services to resource soaring caesareans (over half of which are medically unnecessary) & cost at least an extra £1billion 🤯

Your report doesn’t say why readmissions are occurring & that many are preventable. It’s not a failure to give information that’s the main problem here - it’s the decimation of maternity services before, during & after birth. We are now spending over £2billion on caesareans 🤯

The real risk is the ongoing harm to mothers & babies due to the decimation of midwifery care. England spends over £2billion on caesareans - funded by reducing ante, peri & post natal support. Over half the caesareans are not medically necessary 😢

Caesareans have soared since 2015. Over half are not medically necessary We are spending over £2billion pa on them compared to £630million in 2014 Resources have been sucked from the maternity pathway- ante, peri & post natal care have deteriorated. Devastating & avoidable

When we had a full maternity service, ante through to post natal, mortality declined (2005-14). Now we have a toxic culture of fear. Caesareans have skyrocketed & improvement has stopped or reversed