Parents hope documentary will help maternity inquiry bid

Jack and Sarah Hawkins' story features in an ITV documentary

A couple whose child died before birth due to failings in her care hope a new documentary can support their calls for a public inquiry into England's maternity services.

Jack and Sarah Hawkins' daughter Harriet was stillborn at Nottingham City Hospital in April 2016.

They hope an ITV programme - Maternity: Broken Trust - shown on Sunday evening can help their bid for a wider probe.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) apologised for the "pain and suffering" bereaved families continue to experience.

'Platform' to speak up

An independent review into failings in maternity services in Nottingham is now the biggest maternity investigation in NHS history, but a report is not expected to be returned until 2025.

Dr and Ms Hawkins - who received a £2.8m settlement over failings in their daughter's care - said a wider investigation was needed to highlight national issues.

"I think maternity services across England are absolutely terrible," Ms Hawkins said.

"We're in contact with people with dead babies from Leeds to Plymouth, and I think what really needs to happen is for there to be a public inquiry into England's maternity services.

"It's not just Nottingham, it's everywhere, and hopefully this platform will give people the strength to come forward and speak up."

Comparing the maternity review to ongoing inquiries into the Post Office and infected blood scandals, Ms Hawkins said fighting for years to be heard has had a "horrific" toll.

"It's really difficult watching the Post Office inquiry because basically it felt to me like a copy and paste of NUH," she said.

"It actually makes me quite sad - yes we're [now] being heard, but the only reason we're being heard is because families are getting together and going to the media."

Donna Ockenden is leading the review into Nottingham's maternity services

Dr Hawkins said their campaigning since Harriet's death had shown them the scale of problems in the NHS.

He said without answers to why failings occurred there will continue to be "devastation to people's lives, and a massive hit on the public purse in compensation".

"Maternity services have been in trouble for a long time - it's not a staffing issue, it is about how maternity services see themselves as working," he said.

"Spend a few million on a public inquiry, save a few billion."

Anthony May, NUH chief executive, said the trust "must listen to women and families and act on their feedback" to improve services, adding he hopes the review "will give those involved the answers that they deserve".

“I know we have failed too many women and their families, and I acknowledge the pain and suffering they continue to experience as a result," he said.

Following calls last year for a statutory inquiry into England's maternity services, the government said £165m had gone into improving neonatal services annually since 2021.

Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.