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20 Addressing the crisis in Maternity Services in the UK: a collaborative approach to safe, respectful care
May 5 @ 17:00 - 17:50
Speakers:- Sheena Byrom, Claire Feeley & Anna Byrom
Facilitator:- Elisa Segoni & Betty Osei-Ntiamoah
Abstract:- UK maternity services are experiencing a growing crisis marked by rising intervention rates, persistent inequalities, increasing maternal mortality, and escalating reports of trauma and loss of trust among service users. This paper presents the work of a national multidisciplinary collaboration of midwives, obstetricians, academics, maternity care supporters, and service users formed to address these challenges. The collaboration seeks to analyse contributing systemic factors, integrate clinical expertise with lived experience, and co-design strategies to promote safe, respectful, and evidence-based maternity care.
Recent data show substantial increases in obstetric intervention in England, with caesarean section rates reaching 44% and induction of labour occurring in over one-third of pregnancies. Despite this escalation, improvements in maternal, stillbirth, and neonatal outcomes have not followed expected trajectories, while inequalities persist. At the same time, reports of traumatic birth experiences, litigation, and freebirth are increasing, alongside diminishing access to midwife-led and out-of-hospital birth options. International comparisons indicate that maternity systems with lower intervention rates often achieve better outcomes.
This initiative is grounded in robust UK and global evidence demonstrating that continuity of midwifery care and midwife-led models, delivered in respectful collaboration with medical teams, improve outcomes, reduce unnecessary intervention, and enhance experiences of care. We argue that a coordinated, evidence-informed, multidisciplinary response is urgently needed to re-establish collaborative, midwifery-focused, person-centred care as the foundation of safe and respectful maternity services in the UK.
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