British mothers should not be made to struggle alone this winter

It is not always easy to be a mother.  But this government should not be making it this tough. Many of this country’s mothers and working women are enduring a tragic and disproportionate share of the pain inflicted by the government’s faltering economic plan; soaring numbers are being forced to quit work because of unaffordable childcare and the withdrawal of financial support; and unemployment among women is at levels not seen for a generation.  For many British mothers, the coming winter months, rising consumer costs and also a NHS in decline will create a perfect storm – perhaps the first of many under this government.

As a single mother myself, I know how dependent mothers often are on the NHS – the health visitor, the maternity nurse, or the visit to the doctors to get flu jabs.  Yet increasingly, mothers and children’s health are being shoved down the agenda for the government’s health plans.  It means something when David Cameron fails to honour a promise to introduce an extra 3,000 midwives in England, putting the safety of mothers and unborn babies at risk; it means something when the flu awareness campaign reminding patients to get their jabs is ditched, and it means something now the strain on the NHS being imposed by the government has left us short of qualified children’s nurses.

This week, Mumsnet have released a new poll showing that women are experiencing unnecessary heartbreak as they miscarry due to poor NHS services. It is important that we really understand the distress that women and their families are put through when a miscarriage happens, so I really welcome Mumsnet’s work on this. The government needs a long-term plan to bolster the support that mothers receive – like better training for healthcare staff to help them be more supportive, better information, and faster access to scanning. Yet there is concern that David Cameron has turned his back on mums and families, because of the priority he has given to his car-crash NHS reorganisation.

And there is a vacuum where there should be a long-term plan to improve the health of British children.  Britain has its fattest ever generation of children. A quarter of children are overweight by the time they start primary school. By the time that they leave, the proportion has risen to a third. It’s a source of anxiety for mums across the country.  Childhood obesity is not “puppy fat” which children can be expected to grow out of. Fat children are likely to become fat adults. There are a range of chronic conditions associated with poor nutrition and obesity ranging from diabetes to cancer. Not only can these health conditions ruin your quality of life, but they are costing the NHS millions to treat. Diabetes drugs alone take up the greater part of the drugs bill in some parts of the UK.

The Tory response?  Last week, Lord McColl of Dulwich’s, a former Tory health spokesman told the country that ‘the answer is simply to eat less,’ and that ‘by continuing to stress that exercise is the answer, politicians are misleading the public.’ Leading health groups have walked out on policies like ‘responsibility deals’, because David Cameron and Andrew Lansley have drinks companies and fast food outlets writing government policy for them. Meanwhile, school sports have been axed by this government.  It shows how out of touch they are.

The government needs to be on British parents’ side in the battle to ensure our children’s health and well-being. It is not the Government’s role to impose lifestyle choices on the British public, but the Tory-led government needs to get a grip and implement a proper response to problems that will have profound and long-term consequences for health and well-being, as well as major costs to the health budget and the wider economy.  Increasingly however, it seems as though David Cameron has turned his back on British mothers and British children’s health.  The government should not be leaving British mothers to struggle alone and in silence.