More than one in 10 women felt that did not receive enough help to cope with the pain during childbirth, a new survey of maternity care in Scotland has revealed.
When asked about pain relief while they were in labour, 11% said they felt they did not have enough help from their midwife and/or their consultant to enable them to cope.
Almost two thirds of women who took part in the survey said they had enough help with pain throughout their labour – while 21% said they had enough help with pain “sometimes”.
Meanwhile, less than three quarters (72%) of women said they had been given sufficient information on the pain relief options for labour and birth by medical professionals – though this was up from 66% in 2018.
The findings were revealed in the 2025 maternity care survey, which was published by the Scottish Government.
A total of 1,775 women who gave birth during February and March last year took part in the research, with almost all of them (98%) having had their baby in a hospital or midwife-led unit.
Four in five women (80%) rated the care they received in either hospital or the midwife-led unit as “excellent” or “good” – with this “similar” to the 82% result in 2018.
But while 91% of women rated their care during labour and birth as being either “excellent” or “good” in 2018, this was down to 88% in 2025.
Just over a third (34%) of women surveyed last year stayed in the hospital or midwife led unit for one or two days after giving birth.
But the research revealed that 3% of women left within six hours, while 10% stayed for between six and 12 hours after they had had their baby.
Public health minister Maree Todd said it was “hugely encouraging to see that the majority of women who took part in the survey have expressed that their care was either excellent or good at every stage of the maternity journey”.
Ms Todd said that this “reflects what we know about the high quality of care provided by our compassionate and skilled maternity staff across Scotland”.
But she added: “We must ensure that every woman and baby in Scotland receives the high-quality care they deserve. That is why an independent review of maternity services in Scotland is under way.
“The review will complement the series of inspections of every acute maternity unit in Scotland to identify the systemic changes needed to strengthen services and achieve better outcomes for women, babies and families.”