UK maternity inquiry finds over 500 harmed or lost due to poor care

A major independent inquiry into maternity care at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust has revealed devastating failings, with over 500 mothers and babies experiencing potentially avoidable harm or death. The damning report, published Wednesday, represents the largest maternity inquiry in the history of Britain's state-run National Health Service (NHS).

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I just can’t compute … how they did this to us and how they did this to all these families. Our concerns were dismissed and not acted upon. We weren’t told the truth about what happened, even after death.

The probe examined cases spanning 13 years, from 2012 to 2025, involving more than 2,500 families. It found that at least 156 babies died shortly after birth or were stillborn, and six mothers also lost their lives across two hospital units run by the trust. These findings follow a series of similar scandals exposed at other NHS trusts in recent years, indicating a wider crisis in maternal and infant care.

Sarah and Jack Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn in 2016, were among the families who campaigned for the truth. "Our concerns were dismissed and not acted upon. We weren’t told the truth about what happened, even after death," said Sarah Hawkins, a physiotherapist and former senior clinician at the trust. The report author, senior midwife Donna Ockenden, described a "bullying and toxic culture" at the hospitals, exacerbated by a "small minority of powerful leaders." Ockenden specifically condemned Harriet’s "avoidable death," noting it was compounded by a "systemic cover-up and investigations designed to mislead."

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Our concerns were dismissed and not acted upon. We weren’t told the truth about what happened, even after death.

Among the tragic cases detailed were 94 stillbirths and 62 instances where babies died soon after birth due to issues like oxygen starvation and hospital-acquired infections. Gary Andrews recounted how his daughter Wynter was born after parents were wrongly advised to terminate a healthy pregnancy in 2019. He responded to a clinician's comment about being "overrun" if they listened to every mother's concerns by stating, "I think now I can respond to that and say if you’d listened to every mother’s concerns, there would be hundreds of mothers, babies, still alive."

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I just can’t compute … how they did this to us and how they did this to all these families.

In Parliament, Health Minister James Murray described the report's findings as "chilling." He acknowledged that regulators had prioritized "protecting clinicians" over accountability and expressed dismay at the "neglect, incompetence, racism, discrimination, contempt and harassment" endured by many. Murray pledged that the government would introduce an action plan by the end of the year to address the systemic issues highlighted by the inquiry and prevent future tragedies.

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Our concerns were dismissed and not acted upon. We weren’t told the truth about what happened, even after death.