National maternity adviser Michelle Welsh MP has called for an independent national maternity commissioner with statutory powers to improve NHS services.
Speaking at the Medical Journalists’ Association annual Symposium this week, Ms Welsh said there needs to be someone who can “intervene when warning signs appear”, who can access national data and step in when baby’s deaths increase.
A maternity commissioner would be someone who cannot be ignored, she told delegates as “for too long, problems have been allowed to grow”, she said.
Speaking ahead of the Ockenden review into Nottingham maternity services due next week and the National Maternity Inquiry led by Baroness Amos also due in the coming month, Ms Welsh also said there needed to be one national framework with unified standards and measures across the country.
Her comments were echoed later in the day by Professor Mary Dixon-Woods, director of THIS Institute at the University of Cambridge who said maternity services in the UK do not act as part of a national system with each doing their own thing.
Ms Welsh began her speech with a very moving account of her own son’s birth in Nottingham in 2020.
She recounted the series of failings that had happened before a senior midwife walked in and realised the gravity of her situation.
Her experience had led her to find answers and campaign for better, she explained.
“No baby’s safety should depend upon chance. And no family should ever leave hospital wondering whether things could have turned out differently.
“Healthcare should be built on safety, compassion and excellence,” she said.
Almost 80 delegates attended the Symposium held in partnership with The King’s Fund and with the support of Leigh Day and Blue Lozenge.
Attendees also heard from Professor Marian Knight who leads the MBBRACE-UK programme at the University of Oxford about the national picture on maternal deaths and stillbirths and neonatal deaths.
Her presentation – which in several places caused gasps around the room – highlighted the questions journalists should be asking and raised important points about data being ignored or not acted upon.
Race and inequality
The Symposium heard from Sandra Igwe MBE founder of The Motherhood Group about Black maternal experience and mental health and the role of journalism as well as Kirsty Kitchen, director of The Birth Companions Institute about failures of support for pregnant women in prison and probation services.
Dr Sarah Scobie, director of research at The Nuffield Trust gave a sneak peek of an analysis to be published next month on emergency attendance in the first year after giving birth.
Sandra Strkljevic, partner, clinical negligence at Leigh Day provided key insight into the role of whistleblowing, duty of candour and eradicating the culture of fear.
The day ended with a panel discussion on the role of journalism in supporting families fighting for justice, chaired by Theo Clarke, former MP and chair of the UK’s Birth Trauma Inquiry.
News coverage of various talks has already appeared in The Times, BMJ and HSJ with more to follow.
MJA vice chair Emma Wilkinson said the day had been moving, informative and inspirational and thanked all the speakers for being so candid.
“This was our fifth Symposium and our best yet. I was so delighted to see so many of our members in attendance.
“We knew with the upcoming reports this would be a hot topic and we hope the day will support our journalists as they continue to cover the issue of maternity safety.”