Rejected petition Allow birth partners to stay for the duration of labour, and for longer after the birth of baby.
Now restrictions are being lifted, there needs to be an urgent review into why birth partners aren't allowed to be present during the entire duration of labour, and the hours following the birth of the baby.
The idea of going through labour alone is creating further anxiety at a time which is already daunting.
A partner should not have to leave an hour or two after their own child is born, when they are allowed to go and sit in a pub or a stadium full of strangers.
More details
There is already resounding evidence that prenatal stress can have lasting impacts on both the health of baby and mother.
Knowing that they are likely to spend much of their labour alone is increasing stress levels among expectant mothers, and their partners.
Further to this, labour can be a traumatic experience, and becoming a new mum can be a shock to the system. Telling birth partners that they have to leave shortly after the baby is born can leave mothers feeling like they are isolated and overwhelmed. This is not to mention the effect on partners' who cannot bond with their own child until the next visiting hours, providing there even are any.
Additionally, there is emerging evidence that the level of depression has increased amongst expectant and new mothers during the pandemic. This can have a detrimental effect on mother and baby.
Now restrictions are being lifted, it is essential that parents are not pushed aside once again.
Why was this petition rejected?
There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue, or if the Petitions Committee has considered one in the last year.
The Petitions Committee is already considering petitions on this issue:
https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/200113
Details of the Committee’s previous consideration of this issue can be found here:
https://business.senedd.wales/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=29744
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards
Rejected petitions are published in the language in which they were submitted