Approximately 20,000 disclosures of domestic abuse are estimated to be made to maternity services in England every year, according to new analysis. This figure is derived from data showing that about 3.3% of maternity bookings within NHS trusts across England involved a disclosure of current or non-recent domestic abuse.
Experts suggest these figures are likely an underestimate of the true scale of disclosures. Gill Walton, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, stated that the findings confirm what midwives already observe in their daily work.
Midwives are often the only professionals pregnant women see regularly and alone, placing them in a unique position to identify and respond to domestic abuse. However, there are calls for staff to receive proper, specialist training and for services to have the necessary time and resources to provide support following a disclosure.
Veronica Oakeshott, interim head of external affairs at Women’s Aid, emphasised that maternity staff require better support and training on how to handle these disclosures, especially given the pressures of working on busy maternity wards.