Press release: The UK’s leading birth trauma charity welcomes the government’s announcement of a national review into maternity care
Press release: The UK’s leading birth trauma charity welcomes the government’s announcement of a national review into maternity care
The Birth Trauma Association (BTA) has welcomed health secretary Wes Streeting’s announcement of a national review into maternity care. The review, which will investigate 10 failing maternity units and then carry out a system-wide look at maternity and neonatal care, was announced by Streeting at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) congress today.
“This review of maternity care is long overdue,” said Kim Thomas, the BTA’s CEO. “Since Wes Streeting took office in July 2024, we have been waiting for an announcement on maternity care, so we are pleased to see that he has finally decided to take action. It has long been clear that there are severe problems with maternity care in the UK. Three major investigations into individual trusts – Morecambe Bay, Shrewsbury and Telford and East Kent – have all exposed major failings in care, and the investigation into Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, conducted by Donna Ockenden, now has nearly 2,500 families within its scope.
“Last year, the Birth Trauma Association was the secretariat for the parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma. The inquiry found widespread and deeply shocking examples of harm to women and babies and made a number of recommendations for improving maternity care, including the appointment of a maternity commissioner tasked with implementing a national maternity strategy.
“While we would very much have welcomed a commitment to implementing the findings of that inquiry, we hope that this new review shows a real determination on the part of the health secretary to listen to the experiences of women and to make significant changes. We are pleased that he has taken the time to meet bereaved parents from Nottingham, Leeds and other trusts, and feel heartened that he has shown an understanding of how profoundly those parents have been affected by negligent care. We particularly welcome his decision to include racial inequality in the scope of the review, given the significantly worse outcomes experienced by Black and South Asian women.
“At the BTA we daily hear stories of women being deeply traumatised by care that is not only unsafe, but lacking in basic compassion. We hear of women being laughed at or shouted at, of women being coerced into procedures they don’t want and of women being left alone without any support on the postnatal ward.
“So many parents who bravely shared their horrifying stories with the inquiry last year did so in the hope of bringing about change in maternity care. We have waited a long time for today’s announcement, and we hope that Wes Streeting uses this review to listen to parents and to make deep-rooted and lasting improvements that will transform maternity care in this country.”
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Further information
For more information, contact Dr Kim Thomas at kim@birthtraumaassociation.org
The Birth Trauma Association, founded in 2004, is a charity supporting women with symptoms of PTSD after birth. You can find our website at www.birthtraumaassociation.org.uk
Follow us on Twitter at @BirthTrauma, on Facebook at Birth Trauma Association – UK and on Instagram at birth_trauma_association_uk.
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