Stillborn baby case fuels hopes for NHS maternity reform

A bereaved couple says the words "You picked a bad day to have a baby" have stayed with them since their stillborn child was delivered, after Lauryn spent 28 hours in maternity triage and the pair say they overheard staff discussing shortages and a colleague who had not turned up for work. Andrew called it an off-the-cuff comment, but the remark has become a symbol of the bluntness and breakdown in care they believe helped define their experience.

Their case arrives as ministers try to show that maternity reviews can do more than catalogue loss. Wes Streeting launched a rapid national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services on 23 June 2025, saying it was intended to deliver truth and accountability for families and confront systemic problems stretching back more than 15 years. By September 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care said 14 trusts would be examined, with Baroness Valerie Amos chairing the review.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said the announcement would create real anxiety for families and staff, but argued the review had to be compassionate, transparent and driven by outcomes. Professor Ranee Thakar said the review should include patient outcomes and experience data, including stillbirth, perinatal mortality and neonatal mortality, if it is to give a realistic picture of performance and inequalities.

The wider backdrop is bleak. The Care Quality Commission’s national review of maternity services in England, covering 131 locations inspected between August 2022 and December 2023, found 36% required improvement and 12% were inadequate. Only 4% were rated outstanding overall, and no maternity service inspected was rated outstanding for safety. The commission also said too many services still struggle to report, learn and communicate with women after patient safety incidents.

The scale of harm is showing up in the legal system and in safety investigations. Reporting in July 2025 said stillbirth-related NHS negligence claims rose from 129 in 2019/20 to 200 in 2023/24, while 737 stillbirths were investigated by the Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations Programme between 2019 and 2024, leading to 485 safety recommendations. For families like Lauryn and Andrew, the crucial test is whether those reviews change staffing, escalation and communication on the ward, not just the wording of the next report.