National Review Finds Maternity Care Failings at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust

A nationwide review into NHS maternity care has found what its author called a 'deeply concerning picture' at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, one of more than a dozen trusts examined as part of the investigation.

The review, led by Baroness Amos and published on 30 June, said the evidence gathered left investigators concerned about the safety of women, birthing people and babies at the trust. It found breakdowns in communication within and between maternity and neonatal teams, staff who said they did not feel safe to speak up, and evidence that the standard of care families received varied depending on their ethnicity or background. The review also heard accounts of racism and discrimination, and described how some neonatal staff regionally referred to the trust as a 'second-class unit'.

Families told investigators they were often not believed or taken seriously, even when raising clear concerns about pain, a baby's movements, or labour not progressing.

For Ewa and Tom Hender, whose son Aubrey was stillborn at the trust's old maternity unit at City Hospital in 2022, none of this came as a surprise. The couple say the findings reflect what they have been raising for four years, and are now backing calls for a full statutory public inquiry into maternity services nationally, arguing that the taskforce approach announced alongside the review does not go far enough.

Diane Wake, group chief executive of Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, apologised directly to the Hender family and, in an open letter to the local community, said the trust was 'particularly appalled' by the accounts of racism and discrimination in the report. She said the trust accepted responsibility for the cultural and organisational issues identified, and pointed to changes already under way: a new Director and Head of Midwifery, a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination, the recruitment of 25 additional midwives, and a new dedicated induction of labour suite.

The trust's maternity services moved to the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in 2024, improving the physical environment, but Wake acknowledged that 'buildings alone do not change culture' and that deeper change was still required.

Nationally, the government has said it will create the UK's first Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner, who will co-chair a new National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce alongside the Health Secretary, in response to the wider review.