Clinical negligence costs NHS almost the same as it spends on maternity care

Defensiveness and a hierarchical environment lead to cover-ups, says ombudsman

- Rachel Sylvester Political editor

When Emily Barley went into labour at 4am on 20 May 2022, the pain hit her "like a train".

By the time her daughter Beatrice was born 17 hours later, the baby's heartbeat had stopped after a series of catastrophic errors by doctors and midwives at Barnsley hospital.

"She was born in the birthing pool," Barley said. "It was the most incredible moment of my life but the worst moment as well, because she was dead. I don't think I really believed that she would be until I held her."

Barley, 36, does not know at what time her daughter died. "There were around 20 minutes when they were monitoring my heart rate instead of hers and another 45 minutes when there was a loss of contact - they got snapshots of [the baby's] heartbeat then nothing. Instead of being suspicious and concerned and taking steps to make sure she was OK, they assumed it was a faulty machine."

She told staff she felt something was wrong but her fears were repeatedly ignored. "I had three midwives and two doctors in the room for the last 45 minutes, and none were doing their jobs," she said. "They were complacent and dismissive. Right from the beginning, I was judged as being a first-time mum who couldn't cope." Barnsley hospital has apologised and promised to improve its training and risk assessment procedures but Barley thinks the problems go wider.

"There's a narrative around nurses, midwives and doctors being angels or gods which I feel they've internalised," she said. "They think: 'We are good people who try very hard, so we can't possibly be wrong." Childbirth is messy, painful and often dangerous, but something has gone seriously wrong with maternity care in the NHS. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, says it is the aspect of his job that has shocked him the most since going into government. He has ordered a rapid review to report next month and will chair a taskforce to implement its recommendations.