Maternity Care in Crisis: Shocking Report Details Systemic Failures
A devastating interim report into maternity and neonatal services across England has exposed a deeply troubling pattern of systemic failures, with allegations of racism, bullying, crumbling infrastructure, and births occurring in undignified circumstances. The investigation, led by Baroness Amos, concludes that these essential services are failing far too many women, babies, families, and dedicated staff members.
Disturbing Allegations and Personal Testimonies
Investigators spoke with hundreds of families who have been harmed and numerous NHS staff members across twelve different NHS trusts. The accounts they shared paint a picture of a system in severe distress. Among the most shocking revelations are allegations that some baby deaths were deliberately misclassified as stillbirths to prevent further investigation by a coroner. The report explicitly states that families felt the system incentivized this practice to avoid scrutiny.
Personal testimonies included in the report are harrowing. One woman recounted a midwife placing a hand over her mouth to silence her during labor. In another instance, the doors to a delivery room were left wide open during an instrumental vaginal birth due to space constraints, with only a flimsy screen outside attempting to preserve the family's dignity. The public perception of these services has deteriorated so severely that at least one midwife admitted to being embarrassed to disclose her profession.
Culture of Racism and Bullying
The report documents a toxic workplace culture festering within some maternity units. Staff reported widespread instances of verbal aggression, bullying, and explicitly racist behavior among colleagues, which often went unaddressed by management. Shockingly racist stereotypes were voiced, including derogatory comments about Asian women and prejudiced assumptions about Black women's pain tolerance.
Infrastructure failures compound these human failures. The report notes that in at least one hospital, staff on a labor ward have resorted to including weather reports in their clinical handovers because of leaks that occur when it rains, highlighting the dilapidated state of some facilities.
Families Demand Accountability and Justice
While not part of Baroness Amos's investigation, Jack and Sarah Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn, have been fighting for a separate public inquiry for bereaved families in Nottingham. They express deep skepticism about the current report's impact. "We have met a number of people and heard reports from a number of people whose babies they say were born alive and who the hospital say were born dead," Jack Hawkins stated, calling it a "horrific" position.
Sarah Hawkins was blunt in her assessment, arguing the report "isn't going to change anything." She emphasized the desperate need for a statutory public inquiry. "Families just want accountability and this report is not going to bring accountability," she said. "There needs to be a statutory public inquiry and some form of justice."
A Familiar Picture of Persistent Failings
The flaws detailed in this interim report are depressingly familiar, echoing the findings of numerous past investigations into maternity care scandals. It describes a burnt-out workforce operating in substandard environments, with a concerning lack of compassion and transparency when things go wrong. This often leaves litigation as the only recourse for grieving parents, compounding their suffering.
Baroness Amos, who has spent the last six months engaging with hundreds of affected families, visiting scandal-hit hospitals, and meeting with staff and MPs, poses a critical question: how can this level of failure be regarded as acceptable in 2026? The National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation was established by Health Secretary Wes Streeting in June after he met with families harmed by poor care. In a preliminary report released in December, Baroness Amos said "nothing prepared her" for the scale of "unacceptable care" being reported.
With investigators having now met over 400 family members and heard from more than 8,000 people including NHS staff, the interim findings are clear. The real test, however, will come with the publication of the final report and whether its recommendations can finally catalyze the lasting, systemic change that is so desperately needed to restore safety, dignity, and trust in England's maternity services.
