Record number of new mothers left with life-altering injuries as NHS maternity wards fail women across Britain

From the Newshound archive · first published 21 September 2026.

Nearly 8,000 women suffered acute haemorrhages in the first six months of 2026 alone — double the rate recorded five years earlier — as NHS maternity injuries hit an all-time high. Three in every 100 women undergoing vaginal births now suffer severe tears requiring emergency surgery, a rate up 29 per cent since 2021. Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, speaking as his party conference gets under way, branded the figures a 'scandal' and urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to take immediate action. CQC data indicates that more than 60 per cent of maternity units are rated unsafe, with one in ten women left alone during late-stage labour.

The most recent quarter — April to June — recorded the highest-ever rate of severe postpartum haemorrhages, at 33 women per thousand births.

Sir Ed Davey warned that 'Britain should be the safest country in the world to have a baby' and pledged £600 million to fix the crisis.