This survey looked at the experiences of pregnant women and new mothers who used NHS maternity services in 2025.
Women who gave birth between 1 and 28 February 2025 (and January, where trusts did not have a minimum of 300 eligible births in February) were invited to participate. Fieldwork took place between April and July 2025, and responses were received from 16,755 people, a response rate of 39%.
What we found
The survey shows overall improvement in many areas of maternity care over the past year, especially in experiences of communication during antenatal care and involvement in decisions during postnatal care. However, there remain other areas of maternity care where women report poorer experiences, particularly communication during postnatal care.
Positive results
Antenatal care
- Eighty-nine per cent of respondents saying they were ‘always’ spoken to in a way that they could understand (an increase from 88% in 2024).
- Over the past 5 years, there has been an upward trend in respondents saying they were ‘always’ given enough time to ask questions or discuss their pregnancy (81% in 2025, compared with 73% in 2021).
- Over the past 5 years, there has been an upward trend in respondents being offered mental health support during pregnancy (90% in 2025, compared with 83% in 2021).
Labour and birth
- More of the respondents (77%) said that they were ‘always' involved in decisions about their care (an increase from 75% in 2024).
In hospital after birth and postnatal care
- More people surveyed said their partner or someone else close to them was able to stay with them as much as they wanted after the birth (72% in 2025, compared with 63% in 2024).
- Eighty-three per cent of the respondents said they were told who to contact if they needed advice about any changes to their mental health after birth (an increase from 81% in 2024).
Key areas for improvement
Labour and birth
- Of the respondents whose labour was induced, 14% said that they were not given information about all the options available to them, including alternatives to induction.
- Seven per cent of all the respondents said that they were sent home once when they were worried about themselves or their baby, and 3% said that this happened more than once.
- One in 10 respondents said that they were left alone at a time when it worried them ‘during the later stages of labour’ or ‘during the birth’.
Triage
- Of the respondents who went through triage to have their symptoms assessed during their pregnancy or postnatal care, nearly three-quarters (72%) said that they ‘definitely’ got the advice that they needed the last time they contacted the telephone triage line. Of the respondents who contacted triage at any point during their pregnancy or postnatal care, most (78%) said that their midwife or doctor ‘definitely’ listened to them the last time they attended triage face-to-face.
How experience varies for different groups of people
Our subgroup analysis shows disparities in experiences of maternity care across different demographic groups. Women reported poorer experiences of care if they spoke English as their main language, were younger (aged 16 to 26), or had lower frequency of contact with the same midwife during their antenatal care, labour and birth, or postnatal care. Other groups reporting poorer than average experiences of care include those who had an assisted vaginal delivery, a planned or an emergency caesarean delivery, and those who gave birth for the first time.
Women living in the most deprived neighbourhoods reported poorer experiences around being treated with respect and dignity during their antenatal care. Women with a long-term mental health condition reported poorer experiences around being treated with kindness and understanding during their care in hospital after birth.
Note on the results: In the Maternity survey results, we refer to women, but we recognise that some transgender men, non-binary people and people with variations in sex characteristics or who are intersex may also use maternity services.
Results for NHS trusts
A-Z list of maternity survey results by NHS trust
Each trust has been provided with a benchmark report, which provides: detail of the survey methodology, headline results, the trust score for each evaluative question, banding for how a trust score compares with other trusts and historical data (where available).
View these reports on the NHS surveys website.
Reports
Open data
Supporting information
How will results be used?
We will use the results from the survey to build on our understanding of the risk and quality of services and those who organise care across an area. Where survey findings provide evidence of a change to the level of risk or quality in a service, provider or system, we use the results alongside other sources of people’s experience data to inform targeted assessment activities.
Other organisations
NHS trusts
Trusts, and those who commission services, use the results to identify and make the changes they need to improve the experience of people who use their services.
NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care
Information collected nationally in a consistent way is essential to support public and Parliamentary accountability. The results are used by NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care for performance assessment, improvement and regulatory purposes.