Maternity Care Survey 2025: national report
Findings on women's experiences of antenatal care, labour and birth, care in hospital or a midwife-led unit, care in a neonatal unit, care at home / in the community and feeding their baby.
Antenatal care
Antenatal care is the care and support provided to a woman throughout her pregnancy to ensure the health of her and her baby. Nine in ten women (90%) rated this care as “excellent” or “good.” This is consistent with 2018.
Check-ups
Over 99% of women attended planned antenatal check-ups.
A midwife / midwives provided the majority of women (83%) with most of their care during these check-ups. A consultant obstetrician provided most of the care to 3% of women. Care was split equally between midwives and obstetricians for 14% of women.
Most planned check-ups took place at GP surgeries, hospitals and health centres with 41% of women attending each of these locations at least once. 13% of women received at least one home visit. 8% of women had at least one phone or video call.
Of those women who saw a midwife at their planned check-ups, 77% saw the same midwife at every or most check-ups. This is an increase from 63% in 2018.
The vast majority (98%) of women felt comfortable sharing their concerns with the health professionals they met during their planned check-ups all (82%) or some (16%) of the time.
Similarly, 99% of women felt they were given enough time to ask questions or discuss their pregnancy all (86%) or some (12%) of the time. This was similar to 2018.
Access to information
The vast majority (97%) of women were told who to contact if they needed any further advice or support, the same as in 2018.
Of those women who did contact a midwife or midwifery team outside their planned check-ups, 97% felt they were given the help they needed all (81%) or some (16%) of the time. This was similar to 2018 (80% and 17% respectively).
Most women (72%) were offered options about where to give birth. These options included in a hospital, midwife-led unit (birth centre), or at home. A total of 28% were offered limited or no options: 16% due to medical reasons and 12% for other reasons.
Women were asked if they were given enough information by health professionals on a range of other issues relating to their pregnancy and care. The chart below shows the percentages of women who responded “Yes, definitely”, for each of the items, in 2018 and 2025.
Figure 2: Women were more positive about their access to information during pregnancy than in 2018
Percentage of women who responded “Yes, definitely” to the question “Were you given enough information by the health professional about the following?”, 2018 and 2025, weighted percentages.
In 2025, women were also asked whether they were given enough information on building a relationship with their baby. Two thirds (66%) responded “Yes, definitely.”
Person-centred care
Overall, respondents reported very positive experiences of person-centred care during pregnancy, with ratings ranging from 78% and 96%.
Figure 3: The greatest room for improvement in pregnancy care was with health professionals getting to know individual women as a person.
Percentage of women who agreed or strongly agreed with statements related to their antenatal care, 2025, weighted percentages.
Of the six statements asked about in both 2018 and 2025, four showed no change in rating. Two statements were rated more positively in 2025:
- “I was involved in decisions about my care as much as possible” (91% in 2018 and 94% in 2025)
- “I was given the opportunity to involve the people that matter to me” (90% in 2018 and 94% in 2025).