For every mum
who feels something isn’t right, it’s time to speak up
Maternity care should provide safe, consistent care for families through one of life’s most important moments, with serious complications remaining the exception.
Yet we found 62% of women experienced complications requiring additional support, such as extra scans or postnatal assessments.
The impact of serious complications
While well over half of parents experienced complications during their pregnancy journey, what is perhaps more shocking is the number of new parents who felt they experienced an incident serious enough to complain about.
Over a quarter (28%) of new parents say they experienced an incident during pregnancy or birth that should have led to a complaint.
Yet more than a third of people (35%) don’t know how to complain or seek help if something went wrong.
"When parents raise concerns after something has gone wrong, being truly listened to is not a luxury — it is fundamental to safe care....
...Too many families, particularly mothers experiencing severe birth injury symptoms, describe the deep frustration of being dismissed or told their symptoms are ‘normal’, and it is deeply worrying that fewer than half — just 49% — know how to complain or seek support if something goes wrong. We urgently need clearer signposting to organisations such as Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), charities like MASIC, and access to legal advice, so parents understand both their right to be heard and the practical steps they can take to seek accountability.”
CHLOË OLIVER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF MASIC
Every parent is entitled to safe care before, during, and after birth
Most mothers receive a very high standard of care – but on rare occasions, things do go wrong.
Serious complications may occur due to:
Symptoms that were not recognised, investigated or treated properly at any stage of the maternity journey
Delays during labour
Anaesthetic errors
Missed signs of foetal distress
Failures to diagnose or repair
perineal tears
Poor monitoring or decision-making
Incorrect use of instruments
Inadequate emergency response or aftercare
In some instances, these injuries can be life-changing for both parent and child and can require significant support and rehabilitation.
While the impact of mistakes can be devastating for healthcare professionals, learning from experience, seeking accountability and driving system‑wide improvement is essential.
At the same time, it’s also vital to support families who perhaps don’t know where to turn.
Our specialist medical negligence lawyers are here to help families understand what happened, explore their options, and access the support they need to move forward.