{"id":42815,"date":"2026-04-06T11:53:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T11:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=42815"},"modified":"2026-04-06T11:53:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T11:53:58","slug":"maternity-deaths-soar-to-20-year-high-nhs-staff-failing-to-take-red-flag-symptoms-seriously","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=42815","title":{"rendered":"Maternity deaths soar to 20 year high: NHS staff failing to take ‘red flag’ symptoms seriously"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Maternity deaths in the UK have hit a 20-year high, a damning analysis has found, despite years of warnings to the NHS<\/a> about potentially fatal \u2018red flag\u2019 symptoms in pregnant women and new mothers.<\/p>\n

The findings show deaths during pregnancy, childbirth or in the six weeks afterwards have risen sharply \u2013 with more than 12 women per 100,000 now dying, the highest level since 2005.<\/p>\n

Over the past decade, the NHS has been issued with 67 separate warnings urging staff to take serious complications more seriously.<\/p>\n

Yet in that same period, maternal death rates have risen by around half.<\/p>\n

The biggest killer remains blood clots \u2013 which are often treatable if caught early \u2013 while suicide is now the leading cause of death in the postnatal period.<\/p>\n

Analysis shows 257 women died in the two years to 2023, with clinicians failing to act on warning signs such as heart problems, severe bleeding and sepsis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In total, nearly 60 official reports by MBRRACE-UK \u2013 the body that audits maternal deaths \u2013 have produced 748 recommendations aimed at improving maternity care. Despite this, outcomes have continued to worsen.<\/p>\n

Hospitals have been told at least 23 times to urgently triage women with symptoms of blood clots or stroke, and to take reports of severe pain and bleeding seriously.<\/p>\n

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Investigators heard repeatedly from women and families about a lack of transparency, clear communication and learning when things went wrong<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Staff have also repeatedly been warned not to dismiss symptoms simply because a woman is pregnant, and to better recognise signs of cardiac disease and sepsis.<\/p>\n

More than 30 recommendations have focused on improving access to mental health services, amid rising concern over deaths by suicide.<\/p>\n

The audit also highlights stark inequalities, with Black women still three times more likely to die than white women during pregnancy or shortly after birth.<\/p>\n

Campaigners say the findings expose a system overwhelmed by recommendations but unable to deliver meaningful change.<\/p>\n

Former Conservative MP Theo Clarke, who led a parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma, described the situation as a \u2018national scandal\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018NHS maternity services are swamped with recommendations from scores of reports, and still women and their babies are being harmed by a lack of focus and leadership necessary to implement them,\u2019 she told The Times.<\/p>\n

But like other campaigners, she is sceptical that another Government review \u2013 due this summer \u2013 will bring real improvement.<\/p>\n

Jo Cruse, founder of Delivering Better, said trusts had effectively been set up to fail, with successive governments \u2018failing to appropriately resource trusts to act on recommendations\u2019.<\/p>\n