Michelle Welsh Becomes England's First Maternity Adviser as 2,500-Family NHS Inquiry Nears
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 19
Michelle Welsh Becomes England's First Maternity Adviser as 2,500-Family NHS Inquiry Nears
5 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 19
Michelle Welsh, Labour MP for Sherwood Forest, has been appointed the government's first maternity adviser after her own traumatic 2020 birth at Nottingham University Hospitals featured in a major NHS failings review.
The new role will have Welsh work with families, ministers, the NHS and maternity groups to push reforms on safer staffing, stronger accountability, listening to women and tackling inequalities.
Her appointment comes weeks before senior midwife Donna Ockenden publishes in June the Nottingham maternity inquiry, which covers about 2,500 families and is the largest review of its kind in NHS history.
Welsh will also join the national maternity and neonatal taskforce, while Baroness Amos is conducting a separate rapid review of maternity services in England due next month.
The move signals fresh government pressure to overhaul maternity care in England after repeated reports of harm to mothers and babies across NHS services.
Can a single adviser truly fix the systemic failures plaguing the UK's maternity services?
Why are new midwives unemployed while maternity wards face a dangerous staffing crisis?
How will the NHS dismantle the systemic racism causing Black mothers to die at higher rates?
England’s Maternity Crisis: New National Advisor, Major Inquiries, and the Push for Safer, Fairer Care
Overview
Michelle Welsh’s appointment as England’s first National Maternity Advisor marks a major step in the government’s effort to improve maternity care. Driven by her personal experience with maternity care failures and her advocacy work, Welsh is tasked with ensuring women’s voices shape policy and practice. This new role responds to urgent calls for change, as highlighted by Health Secretary James Murray, who acknowledged that too many families have been let down. Welsh’s comprehensive mandate aims to address these failures and create safer, more compassionate care for mothers and babies across England.