The report will now be published in June 2026 rather than September 2025 with almost 2,500 cases now expected to be investigated by May 2025.

Chair of the review Donna Ockenden said the delay while ‘difficult for some families to hear' will give the review the ‘opportunity to provide support to all families, and to allow for all cases to be reviewed to the highest professional standards that all of us expect'.

Anthony May, chief executive of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: ‘It is important that we use the review to maximise learning and that all affected women and families are included.

‘I support fully the decision to include new families, and I support the decision to extend the timetable.

‘Since the start of the review in September 2022, we have worked closely with Donna Ockenden and her team, and this will continue through to the report's publication and beyond.

‘While the review is ongoing, we will continue to do everything we can to improve our maternity services further.

‘It is clear that, thanks to a huge amount of work from colleagues in the service, we have achieved sustainable and evidenced improvements in our maternity services.

‘Women, families and the communities we serve can be assured that our maternity services are better now than they were at the start of the review.'