Delay in improving NHS maternity care ‘costs lives of hundreds of babies a year’

At least 2,500 fewer babies would have died since 2018 if hospitals had managed to reduce the number of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in England. Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA

A delay in improving NHS maternity care is costing the lives of hundreds of babies a year, analysis has shown.

At least 2,500 fewer babies would have died since 2018 if hospitals had managed to reduce the number of of stillbirths and neonatal and maternal deaths in England, as the government falls behind on its commitment to halve the rate of those three events.