Parents call for inquiry into maternity services

The families of nine babies who died at a scandal-hit NHS trust over a three-year period have called for a public inquiry into the standard of its maternity care.

A collective letter has been sent to each of the families' MPs after they lost babies at hospitals run by the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.

Of the nine bereaved mothers, four said they too almost died as a result of "poor standards of care" from maternity teams between 2021 and 2023

The trust said it had recruited more midwives and "changed" how it supported families, with outcomes now better "than most other trusts in the country".

But the Sussex-based families said they had called for a public inquiry into its maternity services to ensure accountability for "systemic failures", and so the trust learns from past mistakes.

In the letter to the MPs, the parents said: "With the volume and repetition of errors in maternity care by the trust, we believe that babies and potentially mothers will continue to unnecessarily die under the trust’s care unless there is additional intervention."

The nine baby deaths included Abigail Fowler Miller, whose life, a coroner concluded, would have been "significantly prolonged" if not for errors in care, and Orlando Davis, whose death a coroner ruled was contributed to by neglect.

Dr Maggie Davies, chief nurse at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, said it offered "our deepest condolences and sincere apologies" to the families.

“Whilst we recognise that no words can ease their pain, our dedicated teams are committed to listening, learning and improving the service, so that mothers-to-be, mothers and their babies are as safe as they possibly can be whilst in our care."

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