An inquiry into traumatic childbirth has found that poor maternity care is “tolerated as normal”. The Birth Trauma Inquiry heard “harrowing” testimonies from over 1,300 women who reported life-changing injuries and post-traumatic stress as a result of medical negligence.

The inquiry also heard that women were subjected to a ‘postcode lottery’ for maternity care, with certain parts of the country being more at risk of disastrous care. This comes after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) last year condemned most NHS maternity units as being “not safe enough”. The BBC found that the percentage of maternity units ranked as “inadequate” – ie involving a high risk of avoidable harm to mother and/or baby – has increased from 7% to 15% since September 2022.

30,000 women a year have a poor or traumatic childbirth experience in the UK, inquiry finds