Leeds maternity families call for urgent meeting with Andy Burnham to 'show it is a national scandal'

Bereaved families in Leeds who have lost babies over issues with maternity care have called for an urgent meeting with Andy Burnham, after new figures revealed that record numbers of women suffered life-changing injuries during childbirth in the first half of the year.

Earlier in the year, the new Prime Minister committed to meeting with grieving parents in the West Yorkshire city after senior midwife Donna Ockenden had completed her review into the NHS trust, saying: “We won't let what happened to you be forgotten.”

A BBC investigation revealed the deaths of at least 56 babies and two mothers over the past five years may have been prevented, while legal firm Irwin Mitchell is now representing more than 50 families in action against the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT).

LTHT chief executive Brendan Brown has pledged that the trust is “absolutely committed to working openly, honestly and transparently with Donna Ockenden and the review team”.

Ms Ockenden has begun speaking to parents to form the terms of reference for her probe into neonatal and maternity services, and will meet families again in Leeds this Saturday.

Mr Burnham said: “We will study what comes from the review in detail, and I can commit now to meeting the parents when the moment is right to discuss what's in it and the action that will be taken as a result.”

However, one of the mothers who led the campaign for a review, Lauren Caulfield, has called on the Prime Minister to meet the grieving parents far sooner.

“There are things that we know that are coming out of Leeds and nationally that should be on his radar,” she told The Yorkshire Post.

“As the Prime Minister he needs to have more of an interest in maternity, neonatal care and women’s health overall.

“I think leaving it all to the Health Secretary isn’t the right thing to do. He speaks out on so many scandals, and it’s upsetting and disappointing that he has still not spoken out about the failures in maternity and neonatal services.

“We have asked him to attend next month and we are still pushing on that.

“It’s essential for him to take an interest in maternity and women’s health to show it is serious, that he recognises ours and our children’s lives do matter - show it is a national scandal.”

Ms Caulfield’s daughter Grace was stillborn in 2022. Medical staff then lost her placenta, meaning vital tests to ascertain Grace’s cause of death could not be done.

A Health Safety Investigation Branch report found several care issues including Grace’s growth not being consistently monitored because of the use of different systems between Leeds and Bradford, where Ms Caulfield was also being treated.

She is part of the Government’s new maternity taskforce, and confirmed that Health Secretary Yvette Cooper is set to travel to Leeds early in October to meet the bereaved families.

Ms Cooper said: “Families who have lost a baby or experienced serious harm in childbirth have been through the unimaginable.

“So I am incredibly grateful to those who have shared their experiences with the Maternity Taskforce, and I want to meet with more of the families who have been affected in Leeds.

“I have made clear to the NHS that maternity must be a priority - it’s the precious start of a new family life so when things go wrong it is just devastating.

“That’s why we are bringing in a new Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner to uphold standards and work with families and experts on the action needed to make sure every family gets the fair, safe and compassionate care they need at such a crucial time."

It comes as NHS figures, analysed by the Liberal Democrats, found that women suffered a record number of postpartum haemorrhages in the first half of this year.

Ahead of his conference speech today, leader Sir Ed Davey said the Lib Dems would spend £600m on maternity care, including by bringing in one-to-one midwifery for every woman in labour backed by a round-the-clock senior consultant.

He claimed this would be paid for by a drop in negligence payouts. Sir Ed said: “These figures are a devastating indictment of our NHS maternity services.

“Thousands of women are being left alone during labour, terrified and exposed to life-altering trauma – because severe staffing shortages and missing consultants have pushed wards to breaking point.

“The Government cannot turn a blind eye to this national safety scandal.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Every woman deserves safe maternity care and the new Health Secretary has made this issue a personal priority.

“Through the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce that she is chairing, this Government will deliver the reforms needed to ensure the very highest standards of safety and care for every mother and baby.”

A Labour spokesperson added: "Ed Davey was part of the coalition government that tore up the national standards for maternity services that Yvette Cooper is now having to restore.

“He never raised any objections to that decision at the time, and he has never since apologised."