A long-awaited report into maternity failures at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS trust (NUH), the largest investigation of its kind, will be published later this week. Led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden, the inquiry investigated stillbirths, neonatal deaths, and maternal deaths between 2012 and 2025.
The report comes after a decade-long campaign for justice and change by the families affected. Five families shared their traumatic experiences of neglect and failures in care during childbirth, highlighting the need for systemic change within the NHS.
One family, the Andrews, lost their daughter Wynter in 2019 due to a failure in care. Sarah Andrews, Wynter's mother, said: 'I went into labour and I was having contractions, and for six days, I was basically told to stay at home. I didn't feel like I had any other choice.' She added that the care she received in hospital was 'beset by failures', leading to Wynter's death.
Another family, the Benyons, experienced a traumatic birth in 2015 when Felicity had an emergency hysterectomy after giving birth. She was left with a urostomy bag and lifelong complications due to a preventable error.
The report is expected to be traumatic for families but will help prevent similar failures in the future. It will provide a detailed account of the failures in care and recommend changes to prevent similar incidents from happening again.