Tom Exall

We've had a new report out into maternity and neonatal care and honestly... there's not a single surprise in it. It's still - and I don't use these words lightly - a total disgrace. We've had multiple reports telling us this. And yet the same problems keep happening. Women not being listened to - mums and babies being harmed or even dying - when they shouldn't be. So many people have their own stories - I'm sure if you're listening to this right now you might have your own story - or know someone who does. There's one thing I wanted to pick out from the report by Baroness Valerie Amos. The investigation heard cases of women who had lost babies being placed on wards with newborns. This might seem like a little thing. But can you imagine losing a baby. The worst moment of your entire life. All those hopes and dreams for your child's future. Carrying the baby inside you - feeling it grow - and then the blood, the desperation that maybe it's going to be ok, surely it's got to be ok, and then the reality that you've lost your child. And then what happens? You're put on a ward full of other mothers just like you... but these mums have their little babies in their arms. That is not just negligent. It is cruel. And it also happens systematically throughout the NHS. Having a miscarriage? Go to the maternity unit. Just had a scan where you'd hope to see your baby kicking but actually find out it doesn't have a heart beat? Go and sit down with all the happily pregnant mums. This is symptomatic of a system where women are treated like vessels not like people who should be heard and listened to. Because bringing life into the world can be the happiest time of your life. But it can also be the worst time of your life. Either way - it's the most important moment. And that's why we've got to get this right.