MIGRATION and high birth rates are the cause of poor standards in London's maternity wards, claims London's chief nurse.

Trish Morris-Thompson, the capital's maternity czar' who trained at Whipps Cross University Hospital, spoke out after the Healthcare Commission's largest ever survey of new mums revealed that London has 13 of the 15 worst hospitals in the country in terms of patient satisfaction with staff.

Whipps is 15th from the bottom of a list of 147 health trusts across the UK, with eight per cent of maternity patients saying they had no confidence in hospital staff.

East London mum Harriet Smith, 29, gave birth to her son Sonny at Whipps Cross in August, and saw the staffing problems at first hand.

"There is definitely a shortage of doctors," she said. "When I was waiting to be induced I waited all day as there were no doctors.

"I thought the antenatal care was excellent, but on the ward in post-natal, it seemed like the midwives were too stretched at the time when you really need their help.

"It was like a lucky dip as to what midwife you got, because some were really nice.

"And the one I had was lovely, but some of them were just there to do their job and didn't care for you particularly, they just wanted to get home."

Ms Morris-Thompson is calling for every London health trust to improve by January and has said there would be zero-tolerance for poor treatment of maternity patients.

"It is unacceptable that London has such a high number of complaints about the midwifery services," she said. "All mothers should expect to be treated with the utmost dignity and care.

"London faces unique challenges because people move around so much and we are dealing with really huge increases in the number of babies being delivered.

"There are cultural influences that mean women are not getting seen early enough in their pregnancy, but trusts are going to have to deal with that by making sure their staffing levels are up to it."