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A recent report has revealed troubling issues within England’s maternity services, including reports of hungry mothers, unsanitary conditions, and substandard care. Staff working in certain units have even faced death threats, demonstrating the level of tension surrounding these services. Baroness Amos, leading the ongoing review into maternity care, described the situation as “much worse” than she expected at the outset of her inquiry.
Several women have shared distressing experiences, with some feeling as though they were blamed for the death of their babies. Others encountered a lack of empathy, insufficient care, or no apology following complications, with poor and Black mothers disproportionately affected by discriminatory practices. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who commissioned the review, emphasized that these “systemic failures causing preventable tragedies cannot be ignored.”
Baroness Amos has been visiting multiple NHS trusts and consulting with over 170 families, uncovering deeply embedded problems. These include dirty wards, women being denied meals, inadequate support for basic needs like catheter care, and concerns ignored related to fetal health. Discrimination against women of color, working-class women, and those with mental health issues appears to be pervasive. Moreover, NHS organizations have been criticized for self-investigation when babies died or were harmed, failing to adequately address inappropriate behaviors or poor language. Staff spoken to during the inquiry reported facing hostility from the public, including being targeted with rotten fruit, death threats, and social media abuse. While negative media coverage can make caregiving more challenging, it has also spurred some improvements.
The review is part of a wider effort to improve maternity and neonatal services, following numerous inquiries over the past decade such as those into Morecambe Bay, Shrewsbury & Telford, and East Kent, which collectively issued 748 recommendations. However, despite these efforts, problems persist. The largest maternity inquiry in NHS history, focusing on roughly 2,500 cases in Nottingham, is expected to submit its findings in June, with further investigations ongoing at other trusts like Leeds Teaching Hospitals. Baroness Amos’s final report is scheduled for publication in the Spring, though some families have criticized the scope and timeframe of the inquiry, fearing it may not lead to meaningful change. Groups such as the Maternity Safety Alliance have condemned the review for allegedly prioritizing staff concerns over the “avoidable harm” occurring in maternity services every day.
In response, Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced that from the New Year a new National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce will be established to implement Baroness Amos’s recommendations. He assured that families affected by poor care will remain central to the process moving forward. Maternity safety campaigner James Titcombe, who has long advocated for change since losing his son in 2008, acknowledged that the issues identified reflect known challenges but expressed cautious optimism, describing the inquiry as “the best opportunity in a generation to finally put maternity services on a safer path.”
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