Families want 'accountability' from maternity review

Parents who have spent four years calling for an independent inquiry into maternity services in Sussex have called for "truth and accountability" after the scope of the review was confirmed by the government.

Katie Fowler and Rob Miller, whose daughter Abigail died at Brighton's Royal Sussex County Hospital in January 2022, said it was "not possible to live without understanding what happened to your child".

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said that the scope of the review into maternity and neonatal services at University Hospitals Sussex NHS was "broad and inclusive".

The NHS trust welcomed the review and said it was committed to fully supporting the process.

The review will examine cases of stillbirth, neonatal death, maternal death, neonatal harm caused by severe brain injuries and severe maternal harm from 2018 onwards, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.

Every family that meets the terms of reference will be automatically included unless they choose not to be.

It is expected that the review by senior midwife Donna Ockenden will examine more than 1,000 cases spanning more than a decade.

The scope was agreed after talks between families and Streeting, the DHSC said.

As an independent chair, Ockenden will also have the power to consider cases before 2018, as well as cases where women believe they meet the criteria for severe harm, but whose records are incomplete or missing.

Fowler and Miller, who helped form the Truth for Our Babies campaign group, welcomed the details on how the review will be conducted, but described it as "bittersweet".

"Nothing that is related to the death of our daughter is ever fully positive," they said.

"In an ideal world, we'd be with our four-year-old living a perfectly happy and normal life."

By Mark Norman, South East health correspondent

I first met Katie and Rob in 2022, a few months after their daughter had died.

At that first meeting in a Brighton coffee shop, they were still in shock, and their grief was difficult to witness.

Four years later, with the support of other families who have lost babies, they have the review that they have campaigned for – but their pain does not go away.

They said in the early days that they felt "lost and isolated", describing it as "horrendous" and "the worst time".

They added: "We still miss Abigail with everything that we have."

The Truth for Our Babies group said that campaigners hoped families would finally receive answers.

"We need to know what has failed, why so many families have been harmed, and what immediate and then further and long-term actions will be taken," a statement from campaigners said.

In June 2025, they said that a proposed review covered "just nine cases", adding: "As the numbers of known cases of harm grew, it became clear that such a limited scope would leave many affected families behind."

They said that they were "confident" that the scope would ensure "all voices are heard and importantly acted upon".

Streeting said that families had shown "extraordinary courage" and deserved "the full truth".

He added: "The scope we have set out is deliberately broad and inclusive with all eligible cases included automatically unless families choose otherwise."

Ockenden said that it was "a privilege to have the trust of so many families" and that their voices would run through "the heart of the review".

Dr Andy Heeps, chief executive of the NHS trust, said: "We welcome Donna Ockenden's review and remain committed to fully supporting the process so families can get the answers they need, and we take any possible opportunity to learn and improve."

He said that the trust's priority was to provide the safest possible care, adding: "That is why our maternity teams have implemented many positive changes in recent years, and why we will work with the review team to find new ways of making our services better and safer, still."

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