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Louise Thompson tells GMB that “women need to be listened to” as she calls for the appointment of a maternity commissioner
Made in Chelsea star Louise Thompson is calling on the government to appoint a maternity commissioner to improve care for mothers and their babies.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, the reality star said she still stuggles from ongoing health conditions, including PTSD, after she experienced serious complications during and after the birth of her son, Leo, in 2021.
In an effort to shed light on the issue, Thompson — alongside former Conservative MP Theo Clarke — launched a petition to appoint a maternity commissioner to “ensure mums and their babies were safe and looked after with professionalism and compassion”.
The petition recently reached 100,000-signatures, which means it must now be considered for debate in parliament.
“It turns out that five per cent of women giving birth are left with post traumatic stress disorder,” Thompson said on Wednesday.
“I have thousands of women reaching out to me every week wanting me to be the mouthpiece for them because this is such an urgent issue, and I can’t understand why we don’t have a maternity commissioner in this country” she said.
Clarke, who chaired an inquiry into birth trauma two years ago, told Good Morning Britain there are more than 700 policy recommendations yet to be implemented from previous reports.
Asked what would make the biggest difference, she said there needs to be a “clear, up-to-date strategy” that doctors can also refer to, as this does not currently exist.
If a maternity commissioner is appointed, it would be their responsibility to oversee and introduce these recommendations, she added.
After suffering a miscarriage in her first pregnancy, Thompson gave birth to her first son in November 2021.
She asked for an elective caesarean but was persuaded against this by medics. She was then offered the procedure two weeks past her due date and eventually had to have an emergency cesarean.
Thompson endured a three-hour operation and lost more than three litres of blood. She was discharged from the hospital but had to be readmitted after losing more than five litres of blood through the night.
Speaking on the impact traumatic births can have on the wider family, Thompson said: “I had no relationship with my son for the first year, year and a half. My partner had to step in and became near enough the sole parent.”
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The petition comes as Baroness Valerie Amos is calling for women and families across England to share their experiences of maternity and neonatal care as part of a national investigation.
Baroness Amos, who is leading the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation (NMNI), said that an interim review last year found an “unacceptable” level of care leading to “tragic consequences”.
Louise Thompson has told GMB she “can’t sit back any more and let this happen to other women.” Credit: AP
In the report, she wrote: “I expected to hear experiences from families about where they had been let down by the care they had received in maternity and neonatal units across the country, but nothing prepared me for the scale of unacceptable care that women and families have received, and continue to receive, the tragic consequences for their babies, and the impact on their mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.”
The call for evidence is open to the public until March 17.
Help and support for any of the issues raised in this article can be found via a number of organisations, including:
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Birth Trauma Association is a British charity that is solely dedicated to supporting women and families who have experienced traumatic birth. It offers a range of support which can be found on its official website.
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Tommy’s works across the whole pregnancy journey and offers bespoke online advice to anyone suffering with PTSD following childbirth.
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The National Childbirth Trust supports thousands of parents every year on their pregnancy journey and lists advice on its official website regarding how to recognise the signs of a traumatic birth or PTSD.
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