Almost half of women in Britain fear giving birth following repeated NHS maternity scandals – and more than one in four are delaying pregnancy as a result, a new research reveals.
The figures follow four large official enquiries into poor care across Britain’s maternity wards which found hundreds of babies and mothers died or were harmed due to hospital failings.
They also come as new data shows the fertility rate for England and Wales is now at a record low after falling for the third year in a row.
Politicians have been voicing concerns about the falling birthrate, in particular over the question of how a decreasing number of people of working age can support an ever increasing number of pensioners. In July, education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said the declining rate of births had “worrying repercussions” and that she hoped to be able to make it easier for women to have children.
A survey of 1,000 20–40 year old females from Lime Solicitors found:
46% said scandals in maternity units had made them more fearful of giving birth.
26% admitted they are delaying pregnancy because they do not believe their local NHS unit is safe.
45% said their trust in doctors and midwives has been damaged.
24% no longer believe their maternity unit is safe.
The survey showed that fears are most acute among the youngest women, with 31% of 20–25 year-olds delaying pregnancy due to safety concerns.
Devastating revelations in maternity care include an all-party parliamentary birth‑trauma inquiry last year which concluded “good‑quality care… is the exception rather than the rule,” with services frequently described as “shockingly poor quality.”
Data from the baby charities, Tommy’s and Sands, has found 2,500 babies’ lives could have been saved since 2018 if the NHS had met its own safety targets.
Last month the government’s health service safety watchdog, the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) warned that risks in maternity and neonatal care are still widespread.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has since ordered a national investigation into maternity safety, to report in December. He said there had been systemic failings stretching back more than 15 years and that families had been “gaslit” in their fight for answers.
But despite inquiry after inquiry, successive reports have warned lessons are not being learned and changes have not been made. Experts say poor training, under-staffing and defensive cultures mean the same failings keep happening.
Professor James Walker, one of Britain’s leading maternity safety experts, said: “Fear of having babies is a concerning but understandable result of these enquiries. We have had multiple inquiries into maternity services and the same issues keep being found.
“These investigations are going over old ground. While it is important for families to get answers, these inquiries have become a self-fulfilling industry in themselves, highlighting the known problems again, adding to the increasing concerns women have. You have to improve maternity services in order to improve the outcomes. Failure to improve the services and outcomes fail these families yet again who not only want answers but also to stop future families suffering in the same way.”
Professor Walker, the first Clinical Director of the Maternity Investigations for the government patient safety watchdog, added: “Despite the findings of these enquiries, for most women, pregnancy is very safe with good outcomes.”
Hazha Ghafoor, 39, from Birmingham, lost her daughter Maily in September 2023 after repeated warnings were missed during her high-risk pregnancy.
Despite a history of ectopic pregnancies, pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes, Hazha’s concerns about pain and reduced movements were not escalated. By the time doctors acted, Maily had died from a placental abruption – a complication that should have been picked up earlier.
“Nobody was there to fight for her when she needed help the most,” said her husband Bahroz. “She was in pain, she was scared, and I had to fight to be able to stay there to make sure she was heard.”
At home, Maily’s nursery remains untouched. “The room is still ready for her. Hazha hasn’t even opened the door,” Bahroz said.
The NHS trust has admitted Maily would have survived with proper care. The family, now parents to a premature baby girl born this summer, are taking legal action.
The total fertility rate in England and Wales – the average number of live children women can expect to have across their child-bearing life – stood at 1.41 in 2024, the lowest since comparable data was first collected in 1938, according to figures released last week from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
An NHS spokesperson said: “Every mother giving birth should expect to receive safe, personalised and compassionate care and for most women the birth of a child is a positive experience with dedicated midwives working to ensure a safe birth for both mother and baby.
“However, we know that for some women the care we provide is not as good as we want it to be and there remains much more to do, which is why we are committed to listening and learning from women and families, acting on concerns and making improvements so that every woman has the safe, compassionate care they deserve.”