Of 1391 mothers surveyed, 44% of those with household incomes of less than £15,000 were not offered access to antenatal classes.
A further 29% did not attend classes they were offered, according to the survey of by the RCM and Netmums.
It also reveals that 26% of first-time mums in the low-income group were not offered classes, compares with just 9% with household incomes of over £40,000 per year.
Louise Silverton, RCM deputy general secretary, said: ‘It is a real concern that some women are being poorly served by our community midwifery services.
‘This is particularly so for those on lower incomes because they are often the ones who need them the most.
‘I know the midwives are working very hard out there to deliver high quality care.
‘At the same time, many of them are doing it with less staff and fewer resources, and that situation is reflected in these results.
‘It simply reinforces our
call for more midwives and for this government to really realise that standards are falling in maternity services. Without investment I fear they will fall even further.’
The results also show that a third of those surveyed believe they did not see their midwife enough. This figure rose to 60% for those on the lowest income.
It is national policy that every woman should be given a choice of where they wish to give birth, but nearly two-thirds (64%) said they had not been offered a home birth.
A majority also reported that it wasn’t explained to them that they could wait until quite late in pregnancy to decide where to give birth.
While 12% had only one visit from a midwife and over half (51%) only had two or three visits.
Sally Russell, director of Netmums, said: ‘Most mothers-to-be appreciate the efforts of the midwives who help them through pregnancy and then again after the baby is born, but as services become increasingly overstretched, it is a real worry that the families living on the very lowest incomes are being even more disadvantaged.’
More detail on the survey results can be found
here.
