Stewarts’ Medical Negligence solicitors bring deep expertise and unwavering compassion to families pursuing NHS birth injury claims across the UK. Our leading Birth Injury team has a proven track record of successful outcomes and offers extensive expertise in the sensitive, nuanced and highly complex issues these cases often involve.
We regularly act for parents and children affected by avoidable maternity failings, including delays in treatment, mismanaged labour, and failures to respond to fetal distress. With decades of combined experience, our specialists provide clear guidance, compassionate support and strategic legal representation to help families secure answers, accountability and the compensation they deserve.
The ongoing independent inquiry into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust has become the largest investigation of its kind in NHS history. For many families, it has reopened painful memories, but it has also created a pathway to answers, accountability, and potential legal redress.
What the inquiry will reveal
Since 2022, the review led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden has examined more than 2,500 cases of stillbirths, neonatal deaths, brain injuries, and maternal harm between 2012 and 2025.
The purpose of the review is to identify areas of concern surrounding safety, quality and equity of maternity care and how concerns are managed at the Trust when they are raised. It is reported that more than 850 members of staff have come forward, and 2,500 families have shared their experiences. The final report is expected to be published on the 24 June 2026, with individual feedback subsequently being provided to families who have not opted out of the process. Families will be provided with the opportunity to reflect and ask further questions.
Families involved in the review will be told whether experts believe there were failings in the care provided and whether their outcome would or could have been different with better maternity care. For many, this is the first step toward understanding whether what happened might amount to medical negligence.
It is hoped that the detailed review into Nottingham’s maternity services will ensure every concern is fully investigated and that long‑standing issues are finally addressed. However, the publication of the final report is also likely to prompt further questions from other families who may now scrutinise the standard of maternity care they received at Nottingham University Hospitals. Stewarts recognises the significance of this inquiry and is committed to supporting families affected by these maternity failings, helping them understand their rights and access the answers they deserve.
