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Found 122 results
  1. News Article
    Pregnant women were put at “unacceptable risk” by a service which was “deviat[ing] from guidelines”, had poor “surgical competency”, and was over-reliant on a single consultant at “significant risk of burnout”. Independent experts identified an “overuse” of a surgical procedure, a lack of guidance around scans, and risks posed by a single consultant running high-risk perinatal care at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust. NHS England requested a review of the trust’s fetal medicine service early last year following a spate of rapid reviews raising concerns about ultrasounds and preterm clinical pathways. HSJ has now obtained a copy of the 2025 report, which was led by Birmingham Women’s Hospital consultant Leo Gurney, via a Freedom of Information request. It said: “There was evidence of unacceptable patient risk within the preterm birth prevention service, particularly concerning cervical cerclage insertion, with deviations from guidelines and a lack of senior oversight and adherence to multi-disciplinary team processes.” The review said there appeared to be an “overuse” of cervical stitches – which are meant to be used to prevent premature labour where it is a risk – that could “contribute to high surgical complexity”. Other risks from the procedure include infection or the potential to induce labour. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 10 July 2026
  2. News Article
    Women from black and Asian backgrounds are less likely than their white counterparts to receive an epidural while giving birth, research has revealed. The findings, based on data collected from more than 2.7 million births in the UK, prompted experts to raise the alarm about an “ethnicity pain gap” that means people of colour are more likely to be deprived of adequate pain relief within medical settings. It comes as Guardian analysis exposes evidence of racial inequalities in pain relief offered to people across all areas of healthcare – from children in A&E to palliative care offered to cancer patients. Four medical royal colleges – the professional bodies for UK medical professions – called for better data collection on how patients from minority ethnic backgrounds are more likely to have their pain dismissed by health providers. The analysis on pain relief provided to women giving birth, published in the journal Anaesthesia, examined data collected over a 10-year period up until 2021. It found that women from a Bangladeshi, Pakistani and black Caribbean background were less likely than white women to receive an epidural while having a vaginal birth. They were 24%, 15% and 8% less likely respectively. Bell Ribeiro-Addy, a Labour MP and chair of the all-party parliamentary group on black maternal health, said the new findings left “little room for doubt that racialised assumptions are a key driver of unequal outcomes”. “The disparities around pain relief identified in this report are shocking and indefensible, but sadly not surprising, given the way black people’s pain has historically been doubted, downplayed and dismissed,” she said. She added that the findings were “inseparable from the wider context of racism and racial tropes such as the ‘strong black woman’”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 2 July 2026
  3. Content Article
    This BMJ article argues that repeated failures in NHS maternity services—highlighted by the Nottingham review, which found hundreds of cases of potentially avoidable harm and deaths—cannot be explained solely by staffing, leadership or system pressures, but instead stem from a deeper cultural issue: an entrenched ideology that prioritises “normal childbirth” over safety. This mindset has led to patterns such as delaying interventions, discouraging women from seeking care early and failing to escalate risks, even when warning signs are present. The author suggests that clinicians often act according to what seems reasonable within their belief system (“local rationality”), meaning harmful decisions are shaped by training and culture rather than intent.
  4. News Article
    The chair of several high-profile safety inquiries has resigned from the government’s national maternity review in a dispute over “normal birth ideology”, HSJ can reveal. Bill Kirkup, who also investigated the Morecambe Bay and East Kent maternity scandals, stepped down from his position as expert adviser to the national maternity and neonatal investigation. In a letter ahead of today’s publication of the national review, its chair Baroness Valerie Amos writes: “Dr Bill Kirkup has decided to step down from his role as one of the expert advisers to the NMNI. “This was following discussions regarding the wording of the conclusions relating to normal birth ideology in the final report, where we were not able to reach agreement.” However, HSJ understands Dr Kirkup’s position is that he resigned because of a disagreement of principle over the findings on normal birth, and not simply on the specific wording. It appears he wanted a stronger line on the patient safety consequences of a normal birth ideology than Baroness Amos would agree to. A “normal birth” ideology has been repeatedly referred to in various recent maternity scandals, prioritising spontaneous vaginal birth with minimal medical interventions as an ideal outcome. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 29 June 2026
  5. News Article
    Women in England are at their highest risk of suffering a serious injury while giving birth since records began in 2020, NHS figures show. The rate of women sustaining the most serious type of tear during childbirth rose to 31.1 in every 1,000 in January, February and March – the highest since monitoring started in 2020. Similarly, the rate of women having a postpartum haemorrhage increased during 2025 to 31.2 in every 1,000 births – the highest annual rate over the five years data has been collected. Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, who obtained the figures from NHS England, said: “Behind these statistics are women going through unimaginable trauma, requiring surgery and in many cases months or even years of recovery. Some will never fully recover. “This news … shows that we need to treat maternity services as a national crisis. The truth is that we will not reverse this dangerous, unacceptable trend – of rising blood loss and record severe tears – until we make safety a priority.” NHS bosses and ministers are preparing for the publication on Tuesday of Lady Amos’s government-commissioned report into the state of childbirth care. It will add to the increasingly urgent clamour for a major transformation of often-inadequate childbirth care in order to make it safe. The government intends to publish an action plan to transform maternity services by the end of the year. But pressure is intensifying for it to spell out its plans sooner. The rate of third- and fourth-degree perineal tears has risen to 31.1 in 1,000, from 25 in 1,000 when figures were first published in June 2020. The rate of postpartum haemorrhage – which involves the loss of 1.5 litres of blood – has increased similarly over that time, from 25.6 in 1,000 to last year’s 31.65 in 1,000. It was slightly lower – 31.2 in 1,000 – in early 2026. The Department of Health and Social Care voiced unease at the birth injury trends. “These are concerning findings, and as last week’s shocking report into maternity services at Nottingham university hospitals [trust] underlined, too many women are being failed by poor quality maternity care,” a spokesperson said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 28 June 2026
  6. News Article
    Mollie Sutton has spent the past seven years waiting for answers. Her son Rupert, aged 7, was born with severe disabilities and is now unable to walk or talk. He also has the mental capability of a four-month-old baby. Ms Sutton, 27, endured a harrowing labour before Rupert’s birth and believes failures by Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust, both before and during her labour, may have caused his severe physical and mental disabilities. She is one of hundreds of families now seeking answers as to why their babies died or were left with disabilities at Nottingham hospitals. An inquiry by Dame Donna Ockenden, which has looked at thousands of cases of alleged poor care at the hands of the trust, is due to publish a report into its failings on Wednesday as part of what has become the largest ever maternity review in NHS history. Ms Sutton told The Independent: “This can't continue to happen. How many more dead babies, dead mothers, harmed babies, harmed mothers do we have to see until somebody actually finally puts their foot down and does something about it?” It was in September 2018, at 34 weeks pregnant, that Ms Sutton was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with sepsis. Three weeks later, at 37 weeks, her labour was induced. Ms Sutton, who was aged 19 at the time of the birth, described the intense pain she experienced during her labour. But she believes her begs for help were ignored due to her age. “I was begging for pain relief. But I was told that I'm only two centimetres – I'm being dramatic. ‘I don't know why you're screaming because there are women on this ward with real problems,” she said. At 4am, Ms Sutton, alone with her husband, said the baby suddenly seemed close to arrival so her husband pressed the emergency buzzer. Midwives came running into the ward, Ms Sutton remembers. The curtains had to remain wide open due to the number of people, and Ms Sutton says she was given no dignity at all. Ms Sutton is now waiting to find out whether her son’s disabilities were caused by her care during and after her labour. But, as she awaits a report from the Nottingham inquiry team and a separate one from NUH, she said she wants urgent change. She said: “They [the government, regulators and NHS] knew what was happening and they did nothing to stop it. The [watchdogs] CQC, the GMC, the NMC, and previous secretaries of state, they all knew what was happening. And they should be held accountable in a judge-led inquiry.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 24 June 2026
  7. News Article
    A quarter of all babies in England are now delivered by emergency caesarean operations, BBC analysis shows - marking a significant rise over the last five years. The unplanned surgeries have increased by eight percentage points, while the rate of elective caesareans has also increased. At the same time, the rate of vaginal births without instruments has fallen - from more than half of all deliveries to 43%. Prof Marian Knight, director of the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, which researches the care of women and babies in pregnancy and birth, says the rise represents a "total change in how women give birth" in England, and that it has not been replicated in other European countries. The NHS does not publish data on why an emergency C-section is performed, and experts say there is no single, clear explanation for the increase. However, some have told the BBC they are concerned a culture of fear in maternity units and among pregnant women is driving up the number of procedures. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which represents maternity doctors, says pressure on staff and operating theatres means the system is "really struggling" to meet the increased demand. NHS England says "decisions are made by considering individual circumstances and clinical advice to ensure the safest and most appropriate approach for each birth". Read full story Source: BBC News, 5 June 2026
  8. News Article
    Stress from racism and deprivation could explain why black women are more likely to die during childbirth, a study has found. Researchers reviewed 44 existing studies that examined three physiological pathways associated with worse pregnancy outcomes: oxidative stress, inflammation, and uteroplacental vascular resistance, and found black women had higher levels of the three metrics. Such physiological differences are not the result of genetic differences, according to the researchers, but rather suggest that socioenvironmental stressors such as systemic racism and deprivation, which are known to have a measurable biological effect, may influence the body’s ability to function healthily during pregnancy. Grace Amedor, of the University of Cambridge, the first author of the peer-reviewed study published in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, said: “Pregnancy and childbirth put great stress on a woman’s body. Black women may experience additional strain due to factors including systemic racism, socioeconomic disadvantage and environmental stressors. “During pregnancy, this strain may affect key biological processes in ways that increase the risk of conditions such as pre-eclampsia. I was surprised that although this disparity had been known for a long time, there was little research into the potential underlying physiological reasons. “It’s important that we don’t stop trying to tackle the root causes that lead to worse pregnancy outcomes in black women, which are the socioeconomic disparities and the systemic racism they can experience throughout their lives.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 29 April 2026
  9. News Article
    NHS England is considering allowing midwives to “withdraw” services from women deemed to be giving birth at home against professional advice, HSJ has learned. The Royal College of Midwives has warned that if this advice is introduced, it risks “push[ing] women towards giving birth entirely alone, [presenting] far greater risk to mother and baby”. The disagreement comes as NHS services urgently seek clarity from system leaders on how they should best support home births and some high-risk pregnancies. However, the advice would also cover how services should respond to other care and treatment requests that are considered “highly unsafe or unreasonable”. NHS England’s discussions about the potential new advice were revealed in a letter responding to a coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report. The letter is dated 24 December, but it was only published last month, and HSJ understands a definitive decision about the advice has not yet been made. The letter said: “We will build on work already started, looking to clarify whether NHS health professionals providing maternity services may withdraw midwifery services from women birthing at home against professional advice and/or from women making requests with regards to care/treatment that are considered highly unsafe or unreasonable.” It added: “In developing [better home birth resources], NHSE and its partners will consider the ethical responsibility and proportionality of offering women an NHS home birth, while taking into account that women have a legal right to choose what healthcare they receive. “In addition, some women who cannot be supported to birth at home due to the level of risk may choose to give birth unassisted, which carries a higher risk.” The report prompted chief midwifery officer Kate Brintworth to order all trusts to “urgently” review the safety of home birth services in November. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 28 April 2026
  10. News Article
    Joanna was a model prisoner who followed the rules. She had been convicted for a non-violent drugs offence and was not deemed to be at high risk of escape, particularly not in the throes of an agonising labour. She hoped to use hypnobirthing, breathing and relaxation techniques to make the birth calmer and more comfortable. Thanks to information provided by the charity Birth Companions she knew it was her right not to be handcuffed during labour. She had highlighted the handcuffing points in the booklet. When Joanna went into labour on 30 December 2022, she was taken to hospital, handcuffed and chained to a prison officer. She remained so for the 36 hours of a long, difficult birth. Any thoughts of hypnobirthing went out of the window. “I was crying so much that my nose was too blocked to use any of the breathing techniques,” Joanna says. “I’m the kind of person who is good at researching my rights. So many people had told me during my pregnancy that I wouldn’t have to give birth in handcuffs. I was taken to hospital chained to an officer with handcuffs but assumed they would be removed at the entrance to the hospital. “I was so shocked when the cuffs weren’t removed. When I told the prison guards who had brought me to hospital about what the Birth Companions booklet said, they replied: ‘We don’t know what that book is, we’re not going to abide by it.’ I felt so scared. It was my first baby, I didn’t know what to expect from birth and I wasn’t a risk to anyone.” Joanna gave an anonymous interview to Channel 4 News in 2025 about her ordeal. The prisons minister, Lord Timpson, subsequently announced last June that an independent investigation would be commissioned and carried out by the prisons and probation ombudsman (PPO) into the practice in England of handcuffing pregnant prisoners during antenatal appointments, intimate examinations and labour. Timpson said reports of pregnant women being handcuffed during labour were “deeply concerning”. However, information on the number of prisoners handcuffed during labour and birth is not routinely collected by officials. The Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have called for an investigation into the use of restraints on pregnant prisoners. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 4 March 2026
  11. News Article
    A newborn baby died after hospital staff failed to wake his mother for "potentially lifesaving observations" before his birth, an investigation has found. Sonny Taylor was left "distressed for a significant amount of time" before a delayed emergency Caesarean at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, and died three days later from a severe brain injury caused by sepsis and lack of oxygen. His parents Eve and Thomas said he was "badly let down when he needed help the most". Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board accepted the report's findings and apologised "unreservedly" for the failures in care. Sonny's mother, Eve, 29, had been admitted to hospital after her waters broke at 36 weeks. Later that afternoon she was taken to the maternity ward after signs of potential infection were identified. At 18:00 GMT, her observations and Sonny's heart rate were recorded as normal. While Eve was asleep at 22:00, midwifery staff did not wake her to carry out further observations or listen to Sonny's heart rate, despite this being required, an internal investigation report found. "When I awoke Sonny was not moving as much and I immediately knew something wasn't right," she said. A registrar confirmed the foetal heart rate was abnormal, but Eve was wrongly transferred to the labour ward, causing further delay before Sonny was delivered by emergency Caesarean at 02:03. Tests later showed Sonny "had been distressed for a significant amount of time" and should have been delivered earlier, the report said. Investigators said that if Sonny's heart rate had been identified as abnormal earlier, "this would likely have changed the outcome". Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 January 2026
  12. News Article
    The death of a baby girl has prompted a warning over the use of doulas during births after one had "negatively impacted" midwives. Henry Charles, assistant coroner for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton, issued a prevention of future deaths report after an inquest last month into the death of Matilda Pomfret-Thomas. Her parents had chosen to hire a doula as part of plans for a home birth, having previously experienced a traumatic hospital delivery with their first child. Doulas are non-medical support workers who are not regulated, and are employed by some families to provide emotional and practical help during pregnancy and labour. Their role remains controversial, with supporters saying doulas offer valuable support to women, while critics - including some medical professionals - warn they may increase risks for mothers and babies. In this case, Matilda died on 13 November 2023 at 15 days old after suffering neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE), a form of brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen before or during birth. Mr Charles said Matilda developed HIE over a period of hours during labour at home and the presence of the doula did "negatively impact" midwives being able to provide advice to the mother and usual care. He said meconium - a baby's first bowel movement that can indicate distress - had been detected. Midwives attending the home birth also noted decelerations, which are drops in the baby's heart rate. Read full story Source: Sky News, 21 January 2026
  13. Content Article
    In 2023, Jennifer Cahill was pregnant with her second child. Her antenatal care was managed by Manchester Foundation Trust (“MFT”) community midwives. In 2021 her first pregnancy had resulted in complications at the time of delivery. She had a Post Partum Haemorrhage for which she received an iron and also a blood transfusion. She was also positive for Group B Streptococcal. On the 26 June 2024 an investigation into the deaths of Jennifer and Agnes Cahill was carried out. The Inquests concluded on the 27 October 2025. The conclusion of the Inquests was: Jennifer Rose Cahill died as a result of complications arising from the delivery of her second child, contributed to by neglect. Agnes Lily Wren Cahill died as a result of complications during birth, such complications contributed to by neglect. The medical causes of death were recorded as:  Jen: 1a) Multiorgan failure with disseminated intravascular coagulation 1b) Cardiac arrest due to post-partum haemorrhage 1c) Perineal tear and atony during term delivery. Agnes: 1a Multi-organ insult following hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy 1b. Cord compression and meconium aspiration syndrome leading to pulmonary hypertension. Key findings Jen had not made an informed decision to have a home birth and if the out of guidance plan had been completed and all the relevant information provided to her, it is more likely than not she would have given birth in an alternative setting and both Jen and Agnes would have survived. If the fetal heart rate monitoring had been conducted correctly and every 5 minutes, it was more likely than not an abnormal fetal heart rate would have been noted up to an hour before Agnes was born and an urgent transfer to hospital would have occurred. The coroner found emergency services would have been on scene when Agnes was born and effective resuscitation would have been administered which would likely have prolonged her life. Had this call been made it is more likely than not Jen would have survived as the after care delivered to her would have noted a perineal tear and administered syntemetrine immediately. The coroner heard evidence that since the deaths, MFT have completely overhauled the home birth service provision. The new service became operational in April 2025. In the six month period within the MFT area of GM they have received requests from 34 women for out of guidance home deliveries. Five of these could not be supported due to safety issues. Of the 29 out of guidance home births, 15 (50%) required transfer to hospital for varying degrees of obstetric emergency. Matter of concerns There is no national guidance in respect of home births. Specifically, robust evidenced based guidance on home birth care, similar to that which is in place for intrapartum care in a hospital setting. There is an increase in the number of women with ‘high risk pregnancies’ requesting home births where required interventions cannot take place or would be significantly delayed and there is no robust framework for midwives supporting home birth care. There is no national guidance to support consistent practice across the country including, for example, details of clinical scenarios where women, following robust assessment, have been considered too high risk to safely receive care in a home-setting. The lack of national guidance means there are differing models of care and unlike other specialities home births are not a specialist commissioned service. There is no national guidance considering the ethical responsibility and proportionality of offering a home birth model under the NHS framework. Even though there is a very small risk of death, this is not something which is discussed with women particularly in relation to maternal death, even if the woman has a recognised risk such as a post-partum haemorrhage. There is no guidance to ensure the risk of death to both mother and baby is discussed with any woman considering a home birth irrespective of being considered high or low risk. NICE guidance on intrapartum care (2023 updated June 2025) Section 1.3.3 only refers to the potential risk of death to a baby. There is no mention in the guidance of risk to the mother. Terminology around pregnancies describes them as ‘high’ or ‘low risk pregnancy’ and leads women to consider that pregnancy encompasses all stages through to delivery of a child. Practice does not personalise or individualise risk so women can fully understand what the level of risk is for them in actually being pregnant, or what the level of risk is for them in giving birth. In order to maintain their skills, there is no set number of deliveries a community midwife must conduct following qualification. There is no mandated number of deliveries that any midwife (irrespective of the settings in which they are working) must complete once they have qualified as a midwife in order to maintain their registration. The level of experience of community midwives in conducting deliveries is not information routinely provided to women to inform their decision whether to have a homebirth. No bespoke training needs analysis has been conducted focusing on midwives practicing in home birth teams. The lack of national data collection means there is no data to evidence the number of women who are transferred in during labour or after birth, maternal or neonatal outcomes, number of women who are considered out of guidance. The no national guidance on the model of staffing, training and experience for midwives providing home birth care. See also: NHS England's letter responding the Prevention of Future Deaths report.
  14. News Article
    "Reasonable precautions" could have prevented the deaths of three newborn babies, a fatal accident inquiry has found. Leo Lamont, Ellie McCormick and Mira-Belle Bosch all died within hours of their births in two Lanarkshire hospitals, in 2019 and 2021. The report found all three deaths could "realistically" have been avoided had different advice been given by midwives or procedures followed. The McCormick family said they could "never have imagined" the amount of failures that led to their daughter's death and called it a "catalogue of errors". The inquiry ruled "defects" within the system contributed to each death, including that there was a "lack of an effective means" to highlight risks in one of the pregnancies and that midwives had no guidance to assess preterm labour symptoms. Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar KC made 11 recommendations for the future, including creating a "trigger list" to identify and assess early labour symptoms. Among these are reviewing electronic patient information records to improve alerts for at risk mothers, and having a direct telephone line to each maternity unit in Scotland for ambulance crews. In a statement, the McCormick family said: "The family could simply never have imagined the scale of both the individual and systems failures that came to light during the inquiry. "What seemed to be flaws with the electronic system of record keeping actually turned out to be a catalogue of errors with numerous opportunities to avoid the tragic outcome that followed." Read full story Source: BBC News, 18 March 2025
  15. Event
    until
    The Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI) programme is part of a national strategy to improve maternity safety across the NHS in England. MNSI has completed over 3500 independent safety investigations, using system focused methodology, into maternity events, including direct and indirect maternal deaths in pregnancy and up to 6 weeks postpartum. MNSI made recommendations to trusts 33 times between September 2018 and December 2023 in relation to birthing outside of guidance. These were reviewed by a team of maternity investigators and clinical advisors who identified this as a learning theme. In this webinar we will explore how healthcare professionals are able to support women / birthing people who birth outside of guidance so we can improve the outcomes and the experience of mothers, birthing people and babies. Register for the webinar
  16. Event
    until
    This free webinar will cover the current state of serious events involving newborns related to labour and delivery in Pennsylvania facilities and provide a deeper look into the most commonly reported event: shoulder dystocia. We will review and response when a shoulder dystocia occurs, as well as steps that can be taken after such an event, to inform practitioners with the aim of improving outcomes to future instances. Register for the webinar
  17. News Article
    Women have faced delays in giving birth due to the ongoing strikes, a major trust’s chief executive has said. Matthew Hopkins, who joined Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust last month, told a board meeting on Thursday that industrial action was having a “significant and growing” impact on patients. He added that this extended beyond delays to outpatient appointments and elective operations, saying: “It is also delaying mums giving birth, because we are seeing delays now in being able to conduct our elective Caesarian sections.” Mr Hopkins said the impact was also “really significant” on staff, with those covering for colleagues “very, very tired”. “It is important we give a very clear message to the two sides of the argument – government and the [British Medical Association] – that we need a light at the end of the tunnel, and staff need a light at the end of the tunnel. “Going into winter, with this continuing disruption for our patients and our staff, is in my view unacceptable.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 28 September 2023
  18. News Article
    Thousands of women are having induction of labour delayed because of a shortage of staff, raising concerns about the safety of them and their babies, HSJ has found. The issue has been highlighted at seven hospitals in Care Quality Commission reports over the past six months, and HSJ has identified a further three trusts declaring they are concerned about it in their own board papers over the same period. At University Hospitals of Leicester Trust, more than 1,300 “red flags” were raised in a five-month period due to delays in the induction of labour, linked to staffing levels, the CQC said earlier this month. Most were dealys in continuing inductions, and a smaller number were delays between admission and beginning an induction. UHL indicated it had set its own “red flag” bar locally, so all the delays did not represent a national alert. Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare, told HSJ: “At some maternity services we’ve found women having to wait long periods of time to be induced or for transfer to a labour ward once the induction process has started, and in some cases a lack of effective monitoring during periods of delay. “Where we have found concerns about delayed treatment – including induction of labour – we have made clear to those trusts that effective oversight of the issue is vital and that all action possible should be taken to mitigate any risk and keep people using the service safe.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 27 September 2023
  19. News Article
    Hospitals are still promoting a “natural birth is best” philosophy – despite a succession of maternity scandals highlighting the dangers of the approach. A Telegraph investigation has found a number of trusts continuing to push women towards “normal” births – meaning that caesarean sections and other interventions are discouraged. On Saturday, the Health Secretary has expressed concern about the revelation, vowing to raise the matter with senior officials. Guidelines for the NHS make it categorically clear that a woman seeking a caesarean section should be supported in her choice, after “an informed discussion about the options”. Maternity services were last year warned by health chiefs to take care in the language they used, amid concern about “bias” towards natural births. The warning from maternity officials followed concern that women were being left in pain and fear, with their preferences routinely ignored. The findings come 18 months after Dame Donna Ockenden published a scathing report into maternity care at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, which warned that a focus on natural birth put women in danger. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 23 September 2023
  20. News Article
    Women are being "failed at every stage" when it comes to maternity care, say campaigners, as they call for more support for those experiencing traumatic births. Mumsnet found 79% of the 1,000 women who answered their questionnaire had experienced some form of birth trauma, with 53% saying it had put them off from having more children. And according to the snapshot of UK mothers, 44% also said healthcare professionals had used language implying they were "a failure or to blame" for what happened. Conservative MP Theo Clarke is leading calls for more action after her own experience, where she thought she was "going to die" after suffering a third degree tear and needing emergency surgery. Now, she has set up an all party parliamentary group on birth trauma. She said: "[It is] clear that more compassion, education and better after-care for mothers who suffer birth trauma are desperately needed if we are to see an improvement in mums' physical wellbeing and mental health. "It is vitally important women receive the help and support they deserve." Chief executive of Mumsnet, Justine Roberts, said the trauma had "long-lasting effects", adding: "It's clear that women are being failed at every stage of the maternity care process - with too little information provided beforehand, a lack of compassion from staff during birth, and substandard postnatal care for mothers' physical and mental health." Read full story Source: Sky News, 15 September 2023
  21. News Article
    Staffing shortages are likely to restrict the use of a beneficial painkiller in birthing suites, even once its use has been recommended by national guidance. Research by HSJ suggests that just over half of trusts are already offering remifentanil to women in labour, although some are having to restrict its use due to lack of staffing. Responses to freedom of information requests from 108 trusts revealed 55 offered remifentanil during labour in 2022-23. Recent draft National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on intrapartum care, published in April, suggested healthcare professionals “consider intravenous remifentanil patient-controlled analgesia” in obstetric units. This is partly because it reduces the likelihood of forceps or ventouse being required compared to intramuscular pethidine (an opioid commonly used in labour). However, the drug is not yet mentioned in official NICE guidelines and the opioid’s use in labour is currently off-label (its more common licenced use is alongside anaesthesia in surgery). A Royal College of Anaesthetists spokesperson said the use of drugs off-label “is extremely common in obstetrics given that drug trials do not often include pregnant women”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 1 September 2023
  22. News Article
    An 11-year-old boy suffered permanent brain damage after birth because of negligence by hospital midwives who then fabricated notes, a high court judge has ruled. Jayden Astley’s challenges in life include deafness, motor impairments, cognitive difficulties and behavioural difficulties, his lawyers said. After a five-day trial at the high court in Liverpool, Mr Justice Spencer ruled that staff at the Royal Preston hospital in Lancashire were negligent in their treatment of Jayden in 2012. The brain injury was caused by prolonged umbilical cord compression that resulted in acute profound hypoxia – lack of oxygen – sustained during the management of the birth, the court found. Midwives failed to accurately monitor Jayden’s heart rate when he was born and failed to identify his bradycardic, or slow, heart rate during delivery. The judge also found that some entries in notes were fabricated. In his judgment Spencer said it was agreed that all permanent damage to Jayden’s brain would have been avoided if he had been delivered three minutes earlier. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 2 August 2023
  23. News Article
    Maternity departments are raising thousands of safety reports every year about delayed inductions of labour, HSJ can reveal. Induction of labour may be used when women are overdue, because their waters have broken, or for other medical reasons to speed up the birth, such as poor growth of the baby. Delaying induction therefore may increase risks for both mothers and babies and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says trusts should raise a “red flag event” if it is delayed for more than two hours after admission. Information collected by HSJ from 50 trusts show 4,945 red flags related to delays in induction of labour in 2022-23. HSJ also found 3,109 reports in 2021-22 and 1,807 in 2020-21 across 47 trusts. Meanwhile, there were 1,997 Datix reports mentioning induction of labour in 2022-23 across 59 trusts able to give HSJ figures, in response to Freedom of Information Act requests, compared with 1,690 in 2021-22 and 1,368 in 2020-21. The Care Quality Commission has also raised concerns in inspections that incidents which should have been treated as “red flags” have not always been reported as such. The watchdog has also raised concerns about a lack of board-level oversight of maternity safety incidents and a need for clearer guidance for staff on reporting processes. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 2 April 2024
  24. News Article
    An inquiry into birth trauma has received more than 1,300 submissions from families. It is estimated that 30,000 women a year in the UK have suffered negative experiences during the delivery of their babies, while 1 in 20 develop post-traumatic stress disorder. The investigation is a cross-party initiative, led by MPs Theo Clarke and Rosie Duffield, in collaboration with the Birth Trauma Association. Ms Clarke the Conservative MP for Stafford, triggered the first ever parliamentary debate on the issue in October. In an emotional exchange in the House of Commons, she described her own experience following her daughter's birth at the Royal Stoke University Hospital in 2022. She bled heavily after suffering a tear and had to undergo two-hour surgery without general anaesthetic, due to an earlier epidural. The Birth Trauma Association, which is administering the inquiry, invited the public to submit written accounts of their own experiences. Dr Kim Thomas, from the association, said she had received an "overwhelming" number of personal accounts. Some cases date back as far as the 1960s. Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 February 2024
  25. News Article
    Lawyers and charities tell of mothers told to ‘labour at home as long as they can’, dangerously few midwives and ‘lies’ during natal care. As Rozelle Bosch approached her due date she had every reason to expect a healthy baby. Neither she, her husband nor the midwives knew that the child was in the breech position at 30 weeks. When her waters broke a fortnight early, Bosch and her husband, Eckhardt, both first-time parents, had been reassured by NHS Lanarkshire that all was well and that the mother was “low risk”. They were sent home from Wishaw hospital and told to monitor conditions until the pregnancy became “active”. Shortly before 11pm on 1 July 2021, her husband called an ambulance saying that Bosch was in labour and was giving birth. Bosch was in an upstairs bedroom on her knees and paramedics noted that “the baby was pink”. They soon asked the control room for a doctor or midwife to attend but none were available. By the time the ambulance took the family to hospital, the baby had turned blue. Within two days, baby Mirabelle had died. She had become trapped with only her feet and calves delivered while the couple were still at home. A post-mortem has found that Mirabelle suffered oxygen deprivation to the brain from “head entrapment” during delivery. Last month, her father explained to a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) at Glasgow sheriff court: “We were told Rozelle was healthy and Mirabelle was healthy. I think this was a lie and the consequences have me standing here today.” The way that the tragedy unfolded is striking, not just because of the devastating consequences, but because it is not an entirely isolated case. The same FAI is examining the deaths of two other newborns, Ellie McCormick and Leo Lamont, who also died in NHS Lanarkshire less than a month apart in 2019. Experts say it is rare for the Crown and Procurator Fiscal Service to group investigations in this way. Darren Deery, the McCormicks’ lawyer and a medical negligence specialist with Drummond Miller, said he had noticed a “considerable increase” in parents contacting the law firm in the past three years. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 11 February 2024

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