The Swansea Bay Maternity Support Group is a group of families who have come together through the shared experience of trauma or bereavement to raise their concerns about the maternity services in Swansea Bay. The group has been active in recent years and in open dialogue with the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and the Swansea Bay University Health Board.
To mark the beginning of Birth Trauma Awareness Week 2025, they release their own family-led review into the maternity services in Swansea Bay, producing a powerful report documenting their shared experiences of poor care. They felt they had no choice but to conduct their own review, as their faith and trust in the Health Board had broken down completely. The report is based on information obtained through surveys, freedom of information requests, and verbal accounts, demonstrating their clear commitment to raising awareness of the issues and trying to improve standards.
The review found several common themes amongst the participating families. These included staff shortages, inconsistencies in the approach to measuring babies’ growth, misunderstanding of CTGs, delays in delivering babies, failure to make meaningful changes when failings were identified, and medical gaslighting, i.e., families being told that they have not experienced what they have or aren’t feeling something that they are feeling.
An independent investigation into maternity and neonatal services at Swansea Bay University Health Board was released the day after the families’ report. The independent retrospective review had been ongoing since December 2023 to review data from 2019 – 2023. It identifies many of the same issues, such as inconsistent care, staff shortages, improving the quality of investigations, and the need for compassionate approaches when dealing with families.
All of these are issues that our specialist baby loss team recognises as consistently recurring throughout England and Wales. It is disappointing to see that the families have had to take the investigation of these issues into their own hands. We hope that the government will listen to the calls for a systemic and national maternity inquiry, to reduce the number of families having these traumatic, and often avoidable, experiences.
The independent investigation has published a commitment to review the maternity and neonatal care again in September 2026 to ensure that changes have been made. We hope that the voices of those involved in the family investigation will be taken into consideration when making the much-needed changes to the maternity services in Swansea.
How can we help?
If you have suffered poor care during pregnancy, labour, or shortly after birth, our baby loss team can have a free, no-obligation discussion with you to see whether we can help you to investigate a medical negligence claim. To talk to one of our experts, call us on 0800 044 8488 or fill in our contact form, and we will give you a call back.
We fully understand how difficult it is to share with someone you don’t know something as traumatic as a maternity or birth experience that has led to the loss or serious injury of your baby. Our team is trauma-informed and has helped hundreds of families understand what may have happened in the most compassionate way possible.
