South Yorkshire mum shares anguish of baby loss as calls grow for national maternity inquiry
A mum from Wentworth has written to the health secretary calling for changes to the ways baby loss is handled
Last updated 1st Dec 2023
A South Yorkshire mum has described her pain at losing a baby, as calls grow for a national inquiry into maternity services.
Emily Barley has been speaking following a series of failings, which led to the death of her daughter Beatrice.
"You don't just lose them once," Emily said. "You lose every milestone, everything that they should be doing every day."
She's now part of a group who have written to the Health Secretary calling for a number of changes in the way maternity services work.
Emily said that includes the way mothers are listened to: "I've spoken to so many families now, and every story starts with 'they didn't listen to me'".
"We need people working in care to understand listening to women is not just a nice fluffy thing, but is safety critical."
The Government are yet to respond to the letter, which was sent a month ago.
But they have told us every maternity service that hasn't been looked into since 2021 is getting an inspection.
A spokesperson also said hundreds of millions of pounds has been spent on boosting maternity staff and improving neonatal services.