‘Women feel like failures if they haven’t had a “normal” birth’: how the NCT has shaped childbirth in the UK

Fiona Winser-Ramm’s daughter Aliona died 27 minutes after being born in January 2020. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

In May, charity representatives, campaigners and MPs gathered in parliament to hear the then Conservative MP Theo Clarke launch the UK’s first national birth trauma inquiry. More than 1,300 people had submitted evidence, including parents who had lost babies and women with lifelong injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Also there that evening was Angela McConville, the chief executive of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), a parenting charity best known for the antenatal groups it runs for expecting parents. “Genuine sadness and emotion in parliament tonight,” McConville wrote in a post on X.