The UK government has reduced funding for maternity safety initiatives by more than £80 million over the past two years, despite warnings about ongoing risks to mothers and babies within NHS services. This financial contraction follows the release of two critical reports in June that highlighted understaffing as a primary contributor to safety concerns across NHS maternity care.
According to data obtained from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), approximately £93 million of an annual £95 million budget previously allocated to maternity safety improvement programs was withdrawn last year, representing 98 percent of the ring-fenced funding for these initiatives. This funding shift redirected resources toward broader NHS services. The decision came months after then-Health Secretary Wes Streeting described the maternity crisis as one that "kept him awake at night."
Despite these cuts, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper has maintained that maternity care remains a priority for the government. In a recent party conference speech, she pledged to reinstate national standards for maternity care and to appoint a maternity commissioner. However, she did not commit additional funding specifically for frontline care or staffing.
The government has allocated £271 million from the NHS capital budget to address infrastructure, aiming to upgrade maternity and neonatal facilities that, according to reports, nearly half fail to meet basic health and safety standards. Additionally, the government has pledged limited new investment, including £5 million for enhanced monitoring and medications for women at higher risk of blood clots and £11 million to improve equipment and services in triage areas. However, no dedicated budget increases have been made to recruit additional frontline staff or bolster training programs.
Instead, NHS trusts have been instructed to finance a £10 million initiative intended to secure temporary positions for newly qualified midwives through existing budgets. This arrangement has raised concerns that some hospitals may reduce the number of frontline maternity support workers to accommodate the costs of these new roles.
Experts estimate that maternity and neonatal care in the NHS require an additional £250 million to £600 million annually to achieve safe care standards. This figure is notably less than half of the £1.3 billion currently spent on compensation related to negligent maternity care. The UK continues to face high maternal mortality rates, with numbers remaining at a 20-year peak.
Two significant reviews have underscored the severity of the situation. A June report by senior midwife Donna Ockenden identified 260 cases of avoidable death or serious harm to babies at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. Meanwhile, Baroness Amos’s separate inquiry emphasized there is "absolutely no justification" for the persistent unsafe care and preventable harm documented.
Dr. Alison Wright, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, emphasized that sustainable improvements in maternity care hinge on "ring-fenced, sustained funding and safe staffing levels." The DHSC stated that it is "determined to drive urgent improvements" and that the Health Secretary is chairing the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce to oversee necessary reforms aimed at delivering safer care.