An interim report into maternity and neonatal services across England has uncovered shocking allegations of racism, bullying, crumbling infrastructure, and births in undignified circumstances.
Some families said that baby deaths were being misclassified to prevent further investigation.
Baroness Amos, who is leading a national investigation into maternity care, said: “Maternity and neonatal services in England are failing too many women, babies, families, and staff.”
Investigators spoke to hundreds of harmed families and staff across 12 NHS trusts in England, many of whom shared shocking accounts of their experiences.
Some families alleged in the report that their babies were designated stillborn instead of dying after birth.
“They felt the system incentivised the recording of deaths as stillbirths as this prevents the case from being investigated by a coroner,” the report said.
Jack and Sarah Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn, were not part of the Amos investigation, but have fought to get a separate inquiry launched for bereaved and harmed families in Nottingham.
Jack said: “We have met a number of people and heard reports from a number of people whose babies they say were born alive and who the hospital say were born dead.
“And that is a horrific position, a horrific thing to say, and yet of course we believe the victims, not the NHS, who have shown themselves to be sparing with the truth around some of these issues.”
Neither supported Baroness Amos’ inquiry. Sarah said it “isn’t going to change anything”.
‘There needs to be a public inquiry’
“Families just want accountability and this report is not going to bring accountability,” she said.
“There needs to be a statutory public inquiry and some form of justice. Because if your child died in any other circumstance in life, you would get justice. People would be held to account.
“Yet in maternity services, it doesn’t happen like that and that is so unfair.”
Royal correspondent
The flaws highlighted in this report are depressingly familiar.
Racism, bullying, cover-ups. And a burnt out workforce delivering babies in dilapidated buildings with a lack of compassion and care.
Little surprise Baroness Amos asks how this can be regarded as acceptable in 2026.
She knows how bad things are. She’s spent the last six months speaking to hundreds of families including those bereaved and harmed. She’s met MPs, visited hospitals at the centre of scandals, and spoken to staff.
Her interim findings paint a picture of persistent failings. But it’s the details that are most disturbing.
Shocking stereotypes with Asian women deemed “princesses”, and black women as having “tough skin” and “able to tolerate pain”.
How one woman was told she was too fat to have children.
And when things go wrong, there’s a lack of transparency compounding parents’ suffering, leaving litigation often their only option.
Maternity units have become toxic environments for some staff with “racist and bullying behaviour” from colleagues that isn’t dealt with by managers.
And in one hospital staff on a labour ward include weather reports in their handover, because of leaks when it rains.
This report says a lot about the state of maternity services. But for many, it’s nothing new. We already know what’s going wrong, as numerous investigations have uncovered.
The real test will come with the publication of Baroness Amos’s final report and whether her recommendations can bring the lasting change that’s so desperately needed.
Read more on Sky News:
Trust fined over baby deaths
Birth stories – mothers ignored and neglected
The National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation (NMNI) in England was set up by Health Secretary Wes Streeting in June after he met families harmed by poor maternity care.
In her initial report released in December, Ms Amos said “nothing prepared her” for the amount of “unacceptable care” families currently receive.
Investigators have met more than 400 family members and heard from over 8,000 people, including NHS staff.
