Why better maternity training for midwives is not optional – from the frontline of birth injury work

For Every Birth. For Every Baby. For Every Family.

What you can expect in this piece:

• Introduction: Training is not a luxury – it is a safeguard for families
• Systemic failures and a national inquiry
• Midwives under pressure
• CQC findings
• Better maternity training is vital
• NHS realities
• What must change
• Why looking after midwives is essential
• Conclusion: A call to action

Training is not a luxury – it is a safeguard for families

The need for better training for midwives is not a “nice to have” says Trevor Ward, Partner and Birth Injury Team Leader at Fletchers Solicitors.

Training midwives properly is crucial if we want to keep women and babies safe in our maternity wards. Supporting midwives means caring for families – one cannot be done without the other, and at Fletchers Solicitors, we see first-hand, the devastating consequences that can occur when maternity training isn’t prioritised.

Midwives are often the first point of contact for expectant families; their training in risk recognition, escalation, decision support, debriefing, and emergency drills can make the difference between safe outcomes and tragedy. It is essential the government recognise midwifery training not as a cost, but as an investment in the prevention of further harm.

Systemic failures

Maternity services across the UK remain a serious concern, with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) identifying significant failings in maternity services at several hospitals over recent years, including those in Nottingham, Leeds and Essex.

Systemic failures across maternity services have led to the announcement in June, of a national inquiry, scrutinising 14 of the worst performing trusts, while looking at how improvements can be made to the maternity system as a whole.

What is clear is that this is not a hypothetical issue, up for debate. The CQC’s findings signal that families are now at greater risk of negligent care.

Midwives under pressure

As a solicitor specialising in birth injury and medical negligence, I regularly encounter the devastating effect of maternity service failures. There’s no doubt that the NHS is under pressure, and midwives are feeling the brunt of this. That’s why it’s vital that midwives receive the training and support they need to deliver safe care – and that they feel empowered to speak up when they have concerns.

CQC findings

The CQC found repeated failings across maternity units, including problems with staffing levels, unsafe medicine storage, a lack of essential equipment, substandard environments, and a reluctance by staff to raise concerns – with a culture of blame. In some trusts, neonatal transfers were performed in an unsafe way, risk was mismanaged, and infection control fell short of standards.

Behind each of these failings is a family who may have faced a preventable tragedy. Delays in decision-making or escalation can lead to catastrophic, lifelong consequences – both physical and psychological. The ripple effect of care failures touches mothers, babies and entire families. This is not a problem of isolated error; this is a systemic problem that demands decisive action.

Better maternity training is vital

From our work representing families affected by birth injury, a common pattern can be found: avoidable harm often occurs when staff aren’t adequately trained in recognising the early signs of fetal distress or escalating early warning signs.

When midwives are overworked, under-resourced, and unsupported in training, morale suffers, they experience fatigue, and they simply cannot give their best.

Whereas, a workforce that is confident, well-trained and psychologically safe is more likely to speak up, learn from mistakes, and intervene early. The government must see that investment in midwife training and support isn’t a cost – it’s a commitment to safer births.

Acknowledging NHS realities

When discussing maternity failures, we must acknowledge the pressure that the NHS faces day after day. The health service is under strain, with budget limitations, staffing shortages, and competing priorities.

There is a legacy of blame culture within maternity services that discourages incident reporting, preventing future improvements, as well as a culture of “silo working” between midwives and other health professionals. Midwives are exhausted and working in systems that often leave them feeling unsupported.

Training alone won’t solve these problems. Instead, better training must be embedded within a system of supervision, learning from feedback, and a culture of psychological safety, where staff feel comfortable to speak up.

Without this cultural transformation, even the best training risks being a tick-box exercise.

What must change – our calls to government, NHS and local decision-makers

At a national level:

• Establish higher minimum standards for midwifery training and continuing professional development.
• Ring-fence funding for maternity training.

At a local (Trust) level:

• Conduct a rapid audit of current training provision and gaps.
• Guarantee protected time for midwives to attend training, reflection, and supervision sessions.
• Appoint senior maternity leaders who champion learning, not blame, and drive cultural change.

Why looking after our midwives is essential

Midwives are caring professionals, often under immense pressure – they deserve investment, support and protection. If we ask them to carry such responsibility for mothers and babies, we have a moral obligation to provide them with the tools to do so properly.

Furthermore, the financial impact of maternity litigation is huge, with maternity claims costing the NHS £1.3 billion in 2024/24. Preventing harm via training is less costly, financially, and of course from a human perspective, than litigation, compensation, and the long-term care of injured children.

Public trust in maternity services must be improved. Families need to trust that when they come to hospital, they are safe. High-profile news stories and CQC downgrades erode public confidence in midwifery care. Only by seeing that midwives are properly equipped and supported, can confidence in maternity care grow.

A call to action

As a specialist birth injury solicitor, I’ve witnessed the devastation that follows when services fail. At Fletchers Solicitors, we stand beside families seeking justice – helping them find the answers and accountability they deserve. But our mission goes beyond the courtroom; we aim to champion safer maternity care and help prevent these failures from happening in the first place.

The government must now act decisively. They must invest in better training for midwives, transform culture, monitor outcomes, and above all, protect families. This moment must be a wake-up call, not another missed opportunity.