On Wednesday, Donna Ockenden, the experienced midwife who has been leading the review into historic issues in maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, published her report.

This publication is a significant milestone. For me personally, it is the culmination of a journey that began when I took my then constituents, who had tragically lost their baby in 2009, to meet the Health Secretary at the time, Jeremy Hunt. It was their tenacity that sparked this inquiry to get underway. 

The interim report, published in December 2020, and this week’s final report, make clear the very serious failings that had occurred. Part of the issue was cultural – since the 1980s there had been a push to reduce medical interventions in childbirth, and by the early 2000s, there was a real push by the NHS, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), and National Childbirth Trust towards vaginal births.

NHS targets for ‘normal births’ became a driving force, seeing women denied care suitable to their needs. At Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, this became a point of pride as the Trust actively sought to have the lowest caesarean section rate in the country.

Once it became clear that there were problems, the NHS was slow to react. All too often, mistakes were not fully recognised, and opportunities to investigate were squandered. Regulators including the Care Quality Commission had praised Trusts with low levels of intervention in births, which further reduced the likelihood of rectifying a culture seemingly focused too much on targets, rather than minimising risks and outcomes for expectant mums.

Thanks to tireless work of campaigners like my constituents and the diligence of Donna Ockendon, with her team of over 90 clinicians, these issues have finally been investigated and recommendations made.

I have discussed the Ockenden review with the Chief Executive of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, and senior doctors and nurses, who have taken concrete steps to implement fully the recommendations from the interim report, including a risk assessment for each expectant mum from the outset of her care, to ensure she is cared for in the most appropriate setting. 100% of the initial report’s recommendations where SaTH is the lead organisation have been delivered.

There remain serious management issues to be addressed, but the feedback SaTH have gathered from women who have given birth recently shows significant improvement is already taking place.

Having shone a light onto these terrible failings through many years of campaigning, my former constituents have decided to withdraw from the limelight. But the impact of their efforts need to resonate for years to come, in better, safer services for mums not just in Shropshire, but across the country, where I shall do what I can to ensure Government applies learning from the Ockenden Review.