Every day, maternity services support women and their families through pregnancy and childbirth.
In the UK, most women have good outcomes and report a positive experience of care, but maternity care can be complex and, unfortunately, distressing and harmful outcomes do occur. Every death or injury of a mother or baby is a tragedy.
Baroness Amos’ interim report (published December 2025) from the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation highlighted many themes that have appeared in previous reports. These include racism and discrimination, workforce pressure, crumbling and underfunded estates and infrastructures, lack of multidisciplinary teamwork, cultural and leadership failures, and an overall lack of empathetic listening to women and their families.
The College has been active in feeding into the national review and Call for Evidence process, both through submitting written evidence, clinician and women-centred roundtables with the Review team and through encouraging members to contribute. We have also recently been named a part of the Taskforce, which will act on the recommendations in Baroness Amos’ final report expected June 2026.
The College supports maternity safety within the system through its role as an educator: developing the curriculum, raising standards of care through the development of clinical guidance, supporting the career development of clinicians through exams, professional development courses and events, and support services for its members. The College also delivers research and quality improvement programmes that contribute to improvements in maternity safety and as part of its influencing and advocacy activity, ensures system-wide improvements are identified and delivered.
The College recognises and embraces the reality that maternity care is delivered by a multi-professional team, with staff working together to support all women, regardless of the risk or complexity of their pregnancy. This requires a wide range of skills, knowledge and expertise, as well as a supportive context in which they can be applied. It is therefore critical that action on maternity safety considers all members of a multidisciplinary team.
The maternity safety digital resource hub was launched in 2024, and it groups the College’s resources and activities into themes developed from the review of safety reports and subsequent stakeholder involvement. The hub is designed to signpost users to the significant breadth of work undertaken by the College to support our membership and users of maternity services. The resources available will aid members and wider maternity staff in reinforcing learning, supporting improvement areas and ultimately delivering safer maternity care.
In this section
Adequate staffing levels have been recognised as an important determinant of patient safety. Staff with the right skill set and competency are vital. Key guidance documents on safe staffing including the use of locums have been developed
Effective team working enables clinicians to work together, be flexible and adaptable, communicate professionally and be able to solve any concerns together, thereby taking a collegiate approach to working towards a common goal
High levels of staff wellbeing is essential for cultivating a healthy and motivated workforce that aids the development of a positive workplace culture. This in turn reinforces the need for wellbeing support structures to be in place
Good Leadership skills are the vital components that allow for a doctor to role model excellent professional behaviour and support their colleagues to develop as good leaders themselves
Clinicians must champion the healthcare needs of all people from all groups and provide patient centred care that is tailored to the individual’s needs and choice. It also promotes non-discriminatory practice
Women and their families must be treated with care and compassion at all times, be involved in decisions about their care and be listened to whilst taking into account any specific needs they may have
Clinicians must be competent in assessing, recognising and managing their patients. Developing doctors and specialists with a wide-ranging set of knowledge, professional and technical skills forms the basis of their core competency in being a doctor.
Clinicians must respect the cultural diversity of women, their individual backgrounds including previous health concerns, especially in circumstances that may have an impact on engagement and care
The College has published its updated Maternity Service Standards Framework, which provides practical guidance to help support commissioners and service providers to deliver safer, more equitable and compassionate maternity care across the UK.
Explore other College reports and resources related to maternity safety and the workforce
