Building a better future for maternity and neonatal services
Our hospitals are among the safest in the country for pregnant women giving birth.
Amid controversy about the current state of NHS maternity services, outcomes from our three maternity units are consistently better than the national average.
In particular the group’s mortality rate among new-borns, which was already the fifth lowest in the country, has shown a further significant reduction this year. *
Over a thousand babies are born at Barts Health each month, roughly one-third each at The Royal London and Whipps Cross, with the remainder at Newham.
We are by far the biggest maternity provider in England, and one of ten trusts where the proportion of babies who don’t survive beyond 28 days is far lower than average.
In addition stillbirths are also falling, and we have fewer pre-term births (the biggest cause of child deaths in England) as we close the gap in outcomes between Black and Asian women and their white counterparts.
All this is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of our midwives in implementing initiatives like the Savings Babies Lives Bundle and the pre-term birth passport.
Now all those working in maternity - and other staff and patients with an interest - are invited to take part in a big conversation to shape the future of these services.
Following the independent reviews by Baroness Amos and Diana Ockenden, the NHS is asking staff for their views on what more needs to be done to drive sustainable change and enable lasting improvement.
The Your Voice online conversation starts today for three weeks. Your contribution will be anonymous, but you are asked to register your email and organisation.
Shereen Nimmo, group director of midwifery, said: “ Maternity services in all our hospitals are safe and staffed by qualified professionals who care deeply about the welfare of their patients. We constantly monitor the care we give to pregnant women, mothers and babies and learn from their experience to make improvements.
“I’d encourage all our midwives, maternity assistants and obstetricians to join in this national conversation exploring what more we could all do, and welcome contributions from patients and their families too .”
Service users are also welcome to share their views and experience.
National data shows Barts Health had 1.99 neonatal deaths per 1,000 births in 2024 (England average 2.36); trust data for June 2026 was 1.77 with more recent provisional numbers falling further.
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