Britain needs to learn from safest countries for births

As the Amos report into maternal and neonatal safety finds unacceptable care in many wards. Radhika Sanghani and Victoria Young look at its tragic results - and how we might look abroad to improve outcomes for women and babies

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When Sophie Dicks went into labour a few days before a scheduled caesarean in November 2023, she prepared herself for the natural birth she had been hoping for. Having had a Csection for her first baby, she had been hoping to give birth naturally, but had been advised to book in for a C-section for 42 weeks when she went past her due date.

Over the following three exhausting days of labour, she saw "too many midwives to count" but estimates that it was at least 10.

She was then told - without examination - that her labour wasn't progressing because her contractions weren't getting closer together. To avoid the risk of infection, a C-section was recommended after all.

"But I was made to wait six hours, while still in labour," says Dicks. "And when I went in for the procedure, they couldn't get Remi out. I wasn't told anything, but suddenly an alarm sounded, 10 people came running in and lifted me upside down so my legs were in the air. He was born and rushed away, but I was in a mess; I'd lost 3.5 litres of blood.