Lib Dems demand £600m annual maternity service overhaul amid record childbirth injuries
Party leader Ed Davey calls for one-to-one midwife care as NHS data shows highest-ever postpartum haemorrhage rates and sharp rise in severe tearing.
What to know
- Lib Dem analysis shows record childbirth injury rates: over 8,000 postpartum haemorrhages since January 2026 (double 2021 levels) and 29% rise in severe tearing over five years.
- Party leader Davey pledges £600m annual maternity spending and demands one-to-one midwife care, 24/7 consultant obstetricians on labour wards, and 300 new consultant midwives.
- One in ten women (54,000) were left alone during late labour or childbirth last year, attributed to staff shortages and inadequate training.
- Government expects to publish new maternity action plan by end of 2026 incorporating recommendations from three major inquiries; Shrewsbury and Telford scandal findings remain unresolved.
“cannot turn a blind eye to this national safety scandal”
Sir Ed Davey, Liberal Democrats party leader · BBC News ↗
Sir Ed Davey Liberal Democrats party leaderHelen Morgan Lib Dem health spokespersonDepartment of Health and Social Care UK government health ministry
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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DHSC confirms maternity action plan by year end
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson says a new national maternity and neonatal action plan will be published by end of year, combining recommendations from three major inquiries and setting clear priorities for system accountability.
“It is a scandal at the moment - we've seen inquiry after inquiry. So many women are suffering injuries at birth and we're seeing the loss of babies too; it is a tragedy as well as a scandal.”
— Sir Ed Davey, Liberal Democrats party leader · source -
Depending on how far through you are with the delivery by the time that pain relief kicks in it could be that the baby is delivered and then you're in a situation where you're dealing with the affects of pain relief and trying to nurse a newborn. Not saying this is always the case, but there are times when not administering pain relief is good…
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Its interesting hearing all these stories, just had a baby with a few complications so needed to be delivered premature and the experience with midwives has generally been very positive since the start, possibly in a good location/hospital. The doctors are fairly poor at communication though.
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It’s called health insurance and we’ll spend an entire lifetime getting round to the obvious because this country has the insight and intelligence of a spoiled toddler.
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background
Helen Morgan links current crisis to unresolved Shrewsbury and Telford scandal — Lib Dem health spokesperson Helen Morgan, who campaigned for an independent maternity commissioner, notes that previous scandal reports are "gathering dust" and points to the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust failings over 20 years that may have caused over 200 baby deaths.
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background
Davey pledges £600m annual maternity spending and specific reforms — Ed Davey pledges £600m yearly maternity spending if Lib Dems govern and calls for one-to-one midwife care for all labouring women, consultant obstetricians present on all labour wards at all hours, and recruitment of 300 consultant midwives. He argues £1.3bn annually is currently spent on negligence compensation rather than prevention.
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background
Lib Dems release maternity data and policy demands at conference — At the Lib Dem annual conference in Brighton, the party releases analysis of NHS figures showing record postpartum haemorrhage rates and a 29% rise in severe vaginal tearing over five years. More than 8,000 women suffered haemorrhages with blood loss exceeding 1.5 litres since January 2026, more than double the 2021 rate.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by Mastodon, 2d ago · also BBC
What people are saying 1 voices from 1 site · best of 4 · verbatim
- Sep 21
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We wished we were turfed out post C-section; we'd done all the checks and everything and then had to wait another six hours due to various inefficiencies.