Daily Politics from the New Statesman Exclusive investigation: England's maternity scandal
Feb 12, 2026
Hannah Barnes, investigations editor at the New Statesman who leads major probes into public services and maternity safety, discusses a deep investigation into University Hospitals Sussex. She outlines the scale of potentially avoidable baby deaths. She highlights repeated clinical and cultural failures, ignored warnings, stalled inquiries, legal costs, and advice for pregnant women.
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High Number Of Potentially Avoidable Infant Deaths
- University Hospitals Sussex recorded at least 55 infant deaths graded C or D between 2019–2023 based on its own PMRT reviews. These grades mean care issues may have impacted or likely impacted the outcome.
Recurring Failures In Basic Maternity Care
- Common patterns in cases included not listening to mothers, failures in basic protocols, mis-measured growth and discouraging post-mortems. Families report these recurring failings across multiple deaths.
Repeated Warnings Ignored
- Beth Cooper attended Haywards Heath three days in a row reporting reduced fetal movements and was repeatedly sent home. She returned on Christmas Eve 2022 and her baby Felix had died.