The MJA is delighted to announce that our Annual Symposium 2026 will take place on 17 June, bringing together leading clinicians, researchers, policymakers and journalists to examine the future of maternity services in the UK.
This year we have partnered with The King’s Fund for the event which will be held at their headquarters in central London.
Our chosen theme of ‘The State of Maternity: Safety, Inequality and Culture’ is expected to spark urgent discussion across healthcare, politics and the media.
The symposium comes at a pivotal moment for maternity services with the upcoming publication of major investigations including the Ockenden Maternity Review into Nottingham and the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation led by Baroness Valerie Amos.
Throughout the day-long meeting, we will explore how the NHS can respond to continuing concerns around maternal outcomes, racial and social inequalities in care, workforce pressures and the wider culture within maternity services.
Confirmed speakers include Dr Alison Wright, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists; Professor Marian Knight who leads MBRRACE-UK and the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford; Professor Mary Dixon-Woods, director of THIS Institute at Cambridge University; and Dr Sarah Scobie, deputy director of research at the Nuffield Trust.
The programme will feature news-generating talks, panel discussions and debate, offering journalists direct access to some of the UK’s leading experts and policymakers working in maternity and women’s health.
Attendees will also hear from reporters who have covered some of the most significant maternity investigations and healthcare stories of recent years.
Further details, including additional guest speakers, will be shared in the coming weeks.
To register and find out more, click here.
