Dear Wes Streeting, The UK Maternity Crisis Is Now — We Can’t Just Wait For An Inquiry

Today, 1,600 mothers will give birth across the UK in a system that is overstretched, under-resourced, and has normalised harm.We know that, in England, two-thirds of them will give birth in maternity units which are rated as unsafe. Mental health issues remain the leading cause of death between six weeks and 12 months postpartum. Major inequalities still exist in maternal health outcomes for Black and Asian mothers.This is an emergency that demands an urgent national response. It is a public health crisis that has been allowed to unfold in plain sight, leaving hundreds of thousands of women, babies, and families with lifelong consequences.If we do not act immediately, those numbers will continue to rise.When we launched Delivering Better, we set out with two simple but urgent goals. First, to compel the government to acknowledge what so many of us already knew: that maternity care across the UK is in crisis.Second, to help deliver change – practical, meaningful change that could make birth safer, kinder, and more equitable for every mother and baby in the UK.So yes, on paper, the Health Secretary’s announcement this week of a raft of measures to tackle this crisis – including a national investigation into maternity services – is significant.It means one of our founding aims is now being taken seriously. And that matters. We applaud the work of the many fearless bereaved families, campaigners, MPs and health professionals who have fought so hard for this. We want long-term evidence-informed change. We understand the importance of this investigation in delivering crucial answers about how this was allowed to happen – not just at a series of ailing trusts, as we were so often told, but up and down the country. Yet every week our inbox floods with messages from mothers who have been ignored, gaslit, and left to pick up the pieces after giving birth in a system that too often leaves them harmed. Poor care is now, in many cases, standard. We need a dual approach: bold, systemic reform in the long term, and practical, implementable steps in the short-term. This includes measures such as a proper funding injection into maternity services; bold moves to address short-staffing; and simple, low-cost interventions, such as sending a text message at three and six-months postpartum to encourage mothers to check in with their GP.These aren’t silver bullets, but they are immediate steps we can take while the investigation gets underway. The evidence exists. The need is obvious. The cost of inaction is devastating. As recently as April, major cuts were made to ring-fenced maternity funding. That is not an oversight. It’s a dangerous failure of political will, and the more time that passes, the more lives will be impacted while we wait for decisive intervention. So the question is this: does the government have the courage and commitment to meet this crisis with the resources and scale of action it demands?We’re ready to work with Wes Streeting and his team, as is our growing community of mothers, families, campaigners and healthcare professionals, to ensure the investigation is robust, representative, and leads to real change.But we’re also asking him to act now.Not in six months.Not at the end of the Parliament.Now.What has been allowed to unfold in maternity care tells a devastating story about how little the lives and experiences of women are valued.Those of us who were made to feel completely expendable at one of the most vulnerable moments in our lives will know this to be only too true.Women are already opting out. Out of having babies. Out of trusting the NHS. Out of feeling unsafe. That’s not something we can investigate away. That’s something we have to fix – and fast.Jo Cruse is founder of Delivering Better, a movement demanding safe, evidence-based and compassionate maternity care.Related...A ‘Big Baby Trial’ Found 1 Way To Help Women Birth Larger Babies Safely'I Couldn't Look At Him': Louise Thompson's Candid Confession On Relationship With Son After BirthI Gave Birth In A Car And Launderette. When I Finally Made It To Hospital, I Was Shocked By How I Was Treated

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