Women giving birth at Dorset County Hospital (DCH) have praised staff for their kindness, compassion and support and the high standards of care they and their babies received.
The CQC 2025 Maternity Survey looked at the experiences of 16,755 women, across 119 NHS trusts, who gave birth in February 2025 (and January 2025 for smaller trusts).
The survey asked women about their experiences of care across the whole pregnancy pathway – antenatal care, labour and birth, and postnatal care. Responses were received from 111 people at DCH.
Compared with other trusts, DCH scored ‘much better than expected’ in questions focused on labour and birth. Mothers particularly praised the advice and support they received when contacting a midwife at the start of labour.
DCH scored ‘better than expected’ in questions focused on staff care, particularly around being treated with kindness and compassion, having confidence and trust in the staff, attention during labour and being supported at a worrying time.
Questions focused on care in the hospital after birth were scored ‘about the same’ compared with other trusts. These questions related to attention after birth, partners length of stay and pain management and discharge.
Director of Nursing (Acute Care) at DCH Jo Howarth said: “We are proud that many families have praised our maternity teams for their kindness, compassion, and support during such an important time.
“However, we recognise there are areas where we need to do better, particularly around communication, continuity of care, and postnatal support. These findings will help shape our ongoing quality improvement plans, ensuring every family receives safe, personalised, and equitable care. We are committed to listening, learning, and working with our teams and service users to make these improvements a reality.”
Read the full survey at https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RBD/surveys/130
