National Maternity Review | Our statement
Monday 15 September 2025
We are pleased that Oxford University Hospitals will be investigated as one of the 14 NHS trusts included in the government’s National Maternity Review, led by Baroness Valerie Amos.
This is a bittersweet moment for the campaign. Ours is a group no family should ever have to join – yet despite all we have endured and the trauma we carry, we have fought for the past 15 months for our voices to be heard.
Today, over 620 families are part of the group, a stark reminder of the scale of harm caused by OUH’s maternity care. We are glad our voices are finally being listened to.
While we are relieved that OUH will be investigated, we do have concerns about the tight timeframe in which Baroness Valerie Amos and her team will have to uncover the entrenched behaviours and attitudes within the service that have led to such extensive harm. But with that said, we are reassured by both Wes Streeting’s and Baroness Amos’ emphasis on being family-led and her commitment to listen to families’ experiences of harm.
Although it’s not the public inquiry that we ultimately need - and will continue to fight for - it’s validation that our concerns are serious and warrant external investigation. We see this as the first step towards the answers and accountability our families deserve.
We hope this review paves the way for systemic change, ensuring that every Oxfordshire family receives the safe, compassionate, and dignified care they have a right to expect from OUH maternity services.
Campaign members’ responses to the news
Campaign co-founder, Rebecca:
“An investigation into OUH maternity care is long overdue. For 15 months, our inbox has been flooded with stories of shockingly poor and negligent care. We hope that Baroness Amos’s team are given the time and resources they need to investigate OUH’s failings. We hope, too, that the team will, as a priority, listen to the harmed families whose voices have been ignored and dismissed for so many years. The trust has escaped scrutiny for too long. Now, finally, we hope it will be held accountable.”
Julie:
“This review will not bring my grandson back, nor will it undo the trauma 622 families have suffered, but hopefully it will bring accountability from OUH and prevent any more families having to suffer the way we all have.” Anna: “Finally, those who have had their voices taken away can now be heard.”
Anna:
“Finally, those who have had their voices taken away can now be heard.”
Anonymous:
“I was gaslit, denied pain relief, coerced into making decisions. I repeatedly wasn’t listened to and they put myself and my baby at huge risk. I felt unable to complain at the time due to being a member of staff but I am so glad that OUH are one of the Trusts who will be investigated in the review.”
Rachel:
“I will never forget the trauma and unnecessary harm that the John Radcliffe inflicted on me and our daughter in 2017. It is an experience that will live with us forever and we will never forgive them for what myself and our daughter were put through. I’m hopeful for accountability and change so future new parents don’t have to suffer and try to live with unnecessary trauma like we are all these years later.”
Laura:
“I have watched this group grow unprecedentedly over the last year or so, and it has been devastating to see the impacts of poor care on our communities. It’s really devastating to see a vocation be turned into an avenue for inciting trauma, pain and devastation. The invetigation is long overdue, and I hope it finally enforces some level of change that will put faith back into the hospital that I have grown up admiring.”
Maternity care in crisis
The Government initially announced that 10 of the most concerning maternity units would be investigated. The fact that 14 have now been included must be a wake-up call to politicians and NHS leaders – maternity care across the country is in a state of crisis.
OUH and other NHS trusts must acknowledge the immense emotional toll on harmed families who are forced to campaign simply to secure answers and change. It is inexcusable that the burden falls on families to fight to be heard and taken seriously by the very service that is meant to care for them.
We hope this review delivers the answers, accountability, and change that families at all 14 trusts so desperately deserve.
To families whose trusts have not been included, we stand in solidarity with you. Your experiences and pain are no less valid or important. This fight is bigger than any single investigation, and together we will keep pressing for accountability and for the government and NHS to make the systemic, cultural changes needed to transform maternity care across the country.
Campaign co-founder and Birth Trauma Association CEO, Kim Thomas:
“The national review headed by Baroness Amos is well overdue. It has become increasingly clear over the past 10 years that there are serious failings in maternity services that are not being addressed.”
“A series of individual reviews (into Morecambe Bay, Shrewsbury and Telford, and East Kent) have identified common failings, including making basic medical errors, dismissing women’s concerns and refusing to admit to mistakes. In a 2024 report, the CQC, which regulates the sector, found that almost half of maternity services inspected were either rated as ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’. When it came to the safety measure, not a single service was rated as ‘outstanding’.”
“Many of us had hoped for a national, wide-ranging inquiry into the maternity sector. The Amos review covers only a fraction of the trusts with problems, and is expected to report within four months. A much more in-depth inquiry is needed to uncover the scale of failings in maternity.”
“Nonetheless, we believe that Baroness Amos has the best of intentions and, as an outsider, does not come with the baggage of someone working in the sector. We intend to work as closely as we can with the review team and to share with her our own findings about OUH from the past 15 months of campaigning and hearing families’ stories. We hope that Baroness Amos is prepared to listen, and that she will put women’s experiences at the centre of her report.”