Birth risks to mothers in England at record levels, NHS data shows

Mothers in England are at their highest risk of suffering a serious injury while giving birth since records began in 2020, NHS figures show.

- Denis Campbell Tobi Thomas

The rate of women sustaining the most serious type of tear during childbirth rose to 31.1 per 1,000 in January, February and March - the highest since monitoring began six years ago.

Similarly, the rate of women having a postpartum haemorrhage increased during 2025 to 31.2 per 1,000 births - the highest annual rate over the five years data has been collected.

Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, said: “Behind these statistics are women going through unimaginable trauma, requiring surgery and in many cases months or even years of recovery. Some will never fully recover. We need to treat maternity services as a national crisis ... we will not reverse this dangerous, unacceptable trend ... until we make safety a priority.”

The disclosure that birth injuries are running at record levels comes as NHS chiefs and ministers prepare for the publication tomorrow of Baroness Amos’s government-commissioned report into the state of childbirth care. It will add to the increasingly urgent clamour to make childbirth safe.