The largest maternity review in the history of the NHS is expected to reveal extensive failings that led to the deaths of multiple babies and inflicted avoidable harm upon grieving families.
The government-ordered inquiry of Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust, led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden, is anticipated to detail how failures across every level of the service contributed to the profound suffering experienced by families.
It was triggered after a 2020 expose by The Independent found evidence of repeated poor care, spanning a decade, at the trust, with parents forced to fight to find out the truth about what happened to their child.
Several families came forward to this publication to share their stories while whistleblowers raised fears over a lack of staff,.
The trust has previously paid out millions in compensation and incurred fines following prosecutions for its poor standard of care.
Around 2,500 families, alongside more than 800 members of staff, have contributed their experiences to the review.
Nottinghamshire Police launched a corporate manslaughter case in 2025 as part of a wider criminal investigation into maternity failings at NUH, which runs Nottingham City Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre.
On Monday, Nottinghamshire Police said two men had been arrested “in connection with operating practices in the mortuary service” provided by the trust.
The men, aged 55 and 59, were arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office.
The General Medical Council (GMC) and Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) are investigating allegations against individual staff from NUH.
Among those affected are Jack and Sarah Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn in 2016. NUH claimed there were no errors in the care provided by the trust and Harriet’s death could not be avoided.
Mr and Ms Hawkins and other families are calling for a statutory public inquiry into poor maternity care.
Mr Hawkins, 57, worked for the NUH trust as a hospital consultant at the time Harriet died, while Ms Hawkins, 43, was a senior physiotherapist.
Mr Hawkins said: “How on earth have we allowed it that there are 1,000 avoidable baby deaths in this country every year and, in a particular place, there are this many schools’ worth of children missing or damaged beyond belief, and dead mums and damaged mums? How have we got here?”
Ms Hawkins said: “It’s massive, because we worked there as well. Not only was our daughter killed, but we couldn’t go back to our careers, our jobs, everything. Every single aspect of life was changed.”
An initial review by NUH, not involving Mr and Ms Hawkins, concluded there were no errors in care and Harriet’s death was from infection.
“We have a dead child. We have a dead child, and she was killed, in essence, by the NHS, who knew that they were killing babies, but they just didn’t tell Sarah and [me],” Mr Hawkins said.
“And instead of saying, ‘Jesus, we knew this is terrible’, they said, ‘No, you did something wrong. She was wrong. We did everything right’ and just tried to bury us.”
The couple had their legal case against the trust settled out of court for £2.8 million.
Gary and Sarah Andrews, whose daughter Wynter died in 2019 just 23 minutes after being born, said they have been failed by NUH, which was prosecuted over the care it provided to the family. The trust was fined £800,000 after admitting failings in the care of baby Wynter.
Mr Andrews, 38, said: “The report being published today needs to serve as a wake-up call to the NHS locally and nationally, that what’s gone on before cannot be allowed to continue.”
The couple now have a son, Bowie, aged four.
Ms Andrews, 41, said: “I think, personally, it’s got harder because we watch Bowie grow up and realise all the milestones we’re missing with Wynter and that’s heartbreaking.
“We should have never had to fight in the first place and actually we should not be doing it now. We shouldn’t have to be doing this.
“There should be accountability, and it shouldn’t be on families to have to fight to be heard and believed. And actually, the impact on our lives… The death of our daughter means we’ll never be the same again.”
The NMC said it is looking at 96 fitness to practise cases relating to maternity care at NUH.
Of these, 80 are at an initial assessment stage, while 15 are undergoing full investigations.
One case of a midwife has been investigated and is due to be decided on. An interim order means they are currently unable to practice.
The GMC, which regulates doctors, is looking at 62 cases, of which 53 are at the initial stage and nine are at early investigative stages.
GMC investigators are also reviewing more than 300 information reports passed to them from the Ockenden review, which covers the period from April 2012 to May 2025.
Last February, NUH was ordered to pay £1.66 million after pleading guilty to six charges brought by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) of failing to provide safe care and treatment to three mothers and their babies.
