A WOMAN says attending York maternity appointments alone during the Covid pandemic was "one of her scariest experiences".

She was speaking after a survey revealed that women giving birth at York and Scarborough hospitals felt more isolated than ever during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Care Quality Commission surveyed women in England who gave birth in February 2021 on their experience with maternity services.

Patients were asked a range of questions and gave a score between 0 – indicating a very negative experience – and 10, representing the best possible result.

The survey included 188 women across York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who scored the maternity services an average of two out of 10 when asked 'if their partner was able to stay with them as much as they needed'.

This was down from a score of 4.5 in 2019, when the survey was last conducted.

A staff member at York Hospital, who also gave birth there in March 2021, and does not wish to be named, said: "Going through the whole of my labour in a room alone was one of the scariest things I have ever experienced.”

She said she had to attend appointments whilst her partner, who also works at York Hospital, waited in the car.

"It was an awful, indescribable feeling for us."

A spokesperson for the trust said York Hospital has limited space to accommodate partners.

They said: “In April 2020, as part of the government’s social distancing strategy to protect staff, patients and the public, NHS trusts were asked to greatly limit visitors to patients in our hospitals.

“It was a very difficult time for everyone, and our midwives worked extra hard in challenging circumstances to provide support to women when their partners could not be there.

“We are very pleased to see how well we were rated in other areas, including supporting women’s mental health and women receiving the help needed from a midwifery team.”

Mothers scored the trust 6.7 out of 10 for how often they saw a midwife, and 8.1 for whether they received the help needed from a midwifery team.

They scored the trust ​8.6 for its mental health support.

Speaking about the day her baby was born, the woman added: "I think there was one midwife for every three pregnant women and to me that is unsafe – bear in mind my partner wasn’t allowed to stay so was at home over 40 minutes away.”

York Press:

The woman said she began contractions at 11pm, and “panicked” that her partner would miss the birth.

Thankfully, their daughter was born 30 minutes after he arrived.

The woman said said that after the birth she "ended up being pushed into a room with three other women, each in our own bay closed away behind curtains that weren’t allowed to open – apparently due to Covid".

“I was left alone with a newborn whilst I was still recovering," she added.