British maternity wards in crisis

Some very bleak reading, particularly in light of the recent CMACE report, Saving Mothers' Lives 2006-2008 which tells that sepsis now outranks even pre-eclampsia and eclampsia as the leading direct cause of maternal death. Deaths due to sepsis have risen from 18 in 2003-05 to 26 in 2006-08* - a staggering 44%.

Is it any wonder that we have headlines like this one:
British maternity wards in crisis - Health News, Health & Families - The Independent.

 

* Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries (CMACE). Saving Mothers’ Lives: reviewing maternal deaths to make motherhood safer: 2006–08. The Eighth Report on Con?dential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths in the United Kingdom. BJOG 2011;118(Suppl. 1):pp36.