Supporting good, safe maternity care
Everyone should get maternity care that is safe and compassionate. But we know that hasn’t always happened: some women and families have had very difficult experiences that changed their lives.
We want to help make things better. As an organisation that learns and improves, we’re working to support real change so that maternity care is safer and better for everyone.
How we can help
If a professional we regulate doesn’t meet the standards we expect and gives unsafe care, we can investigate. We also make sure families feel safe to speak up and share their concerns with us.
We understand it takes courage to talk about personal and painful experiences, and we’re grateful to families who have spoken to us about problems with maternity care.
If you raise a concern with us, we will:
- take your experience seriously, including how it has affected you and your family
- help you understand our process
- let you know when each step starts and ends
- help you find support, such as counselling or advice services.
Learn more about how we can support you with your concern.
Reviews and inquiries
We also take part in national and local reviews and inquiries that look into maternity care. These reviews aim to identify areas for improvement and suggest ways to make care safer and fairer for everyone. Our role includes supporting the Ockenden Maternity Review into care delivered to families in Nottingham, as well as the national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services. As part of this, we’re working to make sure that people who had negative experiences of maternity care understand who we are, what we do, and how we can support them - both in local areas and across the country.
If you’d like to know more about this work, you can contact us at maternity@gmc-uk.org.
Learn more about how we respond to other reviews and inquiries to support improved patient care.
