Support for the campaign
We are hugely grateful to leading experts in healthcare law and birth rights advocacy for their support of the campaign.
Laura Cook, Obstetric Lead at CL Medilaw
“Having a birth injury specialist team nationally, and being established in Oxford for over 25 years, we have represented many women, children and families whose lives have been turned upside down by poor standards of maternity care at Oxford University Hospitals, including babies left with life-long disabilities and parents left traumatised. We see many common themes being repeated in the cases we manage – from lack of counselling on risks and failure to obtain informed consent around timing and place of delivery, to a lack of intervention with delays in achieving a safe birth, to poor postnatal care. An independent review with urgent improvement is greatly needed and we are very pleased to offer our support to the campaign.”
.jpg)
Visit the Medilaw website for legal advice on medical negligence.
Suzanne White, Head of Clinical Negligence at Leigh Day
"At Leigh Day we have worked with so many families that have tragically suffered poor maternity care. We know that families want answers to make sure that the same mistakes are not made again. We can see from the many maternity scandals being reported in the UK today, that maternity services are failing a significant number of mothers and babies. That is why Leigh Day whole heartedly supports the families who have received poor maternity care at Oxford University Hospitals and their campaign to get to the truth.”
Visit the Leigh Day website for legal advice on medical negligence.
Birthrights
“Birthrights is deeply concerned to hear the accounts of women and birthing people outlining breaches of their human rights at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. In 2018, we had to intervene by instructing lawyers to write to the Trust when we heard that maternal-request caesarean births were being routinely denied. To now hear that women and birthing people are once again experiencing a maternity service that fails to respect their right to make informed decisions about their body and their care, are facing coercive practices, and that healthcare professionals are failing to obtain consent demonstrates the need for the Trust to take urgent action to avoid further distress, trauma and potential tragedies. NHS Trusts across the country must look closely at how local policies, cultures and practices prevent staff from upholding human rights in maternity care so women and birthing people receive the information they need to make decisions about their care and that these decisions are heard and respected.”
Birthrights is a charity that work to protect human rights in childbirth. For years, Birthrights fought against Oxford University Hospitals' ban on maternal request caesareans.
Visit the Birthrights website for advice about your rights during pregnancy and birth.
If you would like to endorse the campaign, we would love to hear from you. Email us at info@FamiliesFailedByOUH.co.uk