Statement from Theo Clarke, former MP and Chair of UK Birth Trauma Inquiry, on Baroness Amos’s recommendation for a national maternity and neonatal commissioner.
For good to come, adversity often needs to be faced.
In August 2022 with the birth of my daughter Arabella, that moment came for me. I had hoped for a normal birth. But just like for so many other mums, it did not happen. I ended up on an operating table awake while doctors worked for several hours to stop the bleeding from a third-degree tear suffered as I gave birth.
I had been rushed away from my daughter. I thought I was going to die and I would never see her grow up. In the hours afterwards, I could not reach my baby so I called for help. A midwife came in, looked at me and said, ‘not my baby, not my problem’. She walked away.
The effect of this, other poor care and the lack of compassion I received struck me as so unbelievably wrong it never left me as I struggled to heal and go back to work as an MP.
Slowly, I decided I needed to do something. The first step was inviting mums from the truly brilliant Birth Trauma Association to parliament to have a chat. I learnt three things: I was not alone, this is happening to so many mums and no-one is talking about it. I said there and then: I am going to change this and break the taboo.
In the 12 months after, I held the first ever debate about birth trauma in parliament that received headlines because I broke down in the House of Commons talking publicly for the first time about what had happened to me. Until those tears arrived, I never truly understood what a profound effect my birth trauma had had on me.
Setting up the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on birth trauma with co-chair Rosie Duffield MP followed. We launched an inquiry and its 2024 report findings were based on submissions from over 1,300 women and almost 100 maternity professionals via seven evidence sessions held in parliament.
Called Listen to Mums: Ending the Postcode Lottery on Perinatal Care it made key recommendations, including the need for a national maternity improvement strategy and the appointment of a maternity commissioner.
Soon after there was a change in government and no progress was made. But I did not stop. I set up my own podcast called Breaking the Taboo and worked hard to be a commentator on this issue. Last year I found a wonderful ally when I joined forces with TV personality and women’s health campaigner Louise Thompson who, like me, had suffered birth trauma.
Together we have worked tirelessly to gather cross-party political support, the support of the media, of women’s health groups and health professionals to make the case for our campaign for a maternity commissioner.
The success of this campaign is a testament to all those who have helped us, shared their often-harrowing stories, offered support and pledged practical help. My thanks to them all.
Baroness Amos too is to be thanked for her key recommendation, a detailed report and for meeting with me in person to listen to my views on maternity services. A maternity commissioner underpinned with statutory powers is the only way in which this country’s maternity services can be improved. I am pleased and relieved she agreed.
All the scandals from across the country over more than a decade - in Nottingham, Telford, East Kent and Morecambe Bay have told us the same: maternity services were failing and women and babies were being harmed. More than 750 recommendations told us how services must change, and the enormity of the challenge, but what was always missing was the mechanism and the position to ensure they did.
The call for a maternity commissioner has then always been obvious. That it has taken this long has cost more lives and injured more women and babies needlessly is a tragedy. Women should have been listened to years ago.
My call now is the health secretary to act without delay to end this national scandal. Put the necessary legislation before parliament and work at speed to appoint the commissioner to, as the Baroness says: ‘drive the urgent, systemwide change… and provide the oversight to drive accountability and implementation of a redesigned maternity and neonatal system'.
My view is the commissioner must be Donna Ockenden. Her work on previous maternity failings – most recently Nottingham - is invaluable. She is the only person in public life with the expertise, experience and trust to do the job.
This is a big day for women’s health. We have turned a corner. However, we must continue the work and ensure the commissioner is in post. There can be no delay, there can be no change to the plan. The need is clear.
Final report: https://www.matneoinv.org.uk/final-reports/
