Maternity care in Nottingham and Lincolnshire praised

Maternity services in Nottingham and Lincolnshire have been praised in an independent report.

The study was carried out in February by the Care Quality Commission.

The United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust was ranked among the top 20% - when it came to offering information, support and encouragement.

Staff at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospitals were praised for making women feel involved in decision making.

One area singled out for improvement in Nottingham was the choice and available times of food.

Anne Crompton, Head of Midwifery at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "Women come in and give birth at various times of the day and night and sometimes women miss meal times.

"So we need to work on developing a snack box system so we actually have certain nutritious snacks available for women outside the regular meal-times, and that's going to be the focus of our work in the next few months, to make sure we have that available."

Generally the study found the women questioned who gave birth in January and February in England were positive about the services they received, with 92% rating their care during pregnancy as good or better.

More than 25,000 women responded to the survey.