The demand was accompanied a poll commissioned by the Lib Dems which showed 75% of the public are concerned about hospital birth standards following damning safety inspection ratings.
The poll followed CQC inspections between 2022 and 2023 which found that two-thirds of NHS maternity units in England were rated either requires Improvement (47%) or inadequate (18%) for safety. Not a single maternity unit in the country achieved an outstanding rating for safety.
The Liberal Democrats called for every maternity unit to be brought up to good or outstanding levels of safety through a maternity rescue package that guarantees 1-1 midwifery for every mother, 24/7 consultant presence on wards and fixes the 40% of units in a state of major disrepair.
Liberal Democrat health and social care spokesperson, Helen Morgan, said: ‘It is a national disgrace that two-thirds of maternity units were found unsafe by inspectors. Mothers and hard-working midwives and doctors have been utterly failed. We need urgent action so no family has to go through childbirth in fear, and trust in the NHS can be restored. Liberal Democrats won't rest until Britain is the safest place in the world to have a baby.'
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘Every woman deserves safe maternity care, and the secretary of state has made this issue a personal priority. Through the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, that she is chairing, this Government will deliver the reforms needed to ensure the very highest standards of safety and care for every mother and baby.
‘In the meantime, we have invested £271m since April 2025 to tackle critical safety risks in maternity and neonatal units, and we are expanding Martha's Rule to every maternity ward in England to ensure the concerns raised by women and their families are acted upon. We are also appointing England's first ever statutory Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner to ensure that the recommendations and actions agreed by the Government are implemented in full, and translate into better, safer care for every family.'
