Davey's call came during a visit to the South West today to discuss local maternity issues.

‘Maternity care is at a breaking point,' Davey said. ‘Having a child should be one of the happiest moments of any family's life, but for far too many it is mired in trauma and tragedy.'

The final report of the Ockenden Review into maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford was published in March 2022.

The SDF for maternity services was introduced by the Government following the review.

In April the Government announced it was cutting the SDF from £95m in 2024-25 to £2m in 2025-26.

NHS Resolution reported in July 2025 that £1.3bn maternity negligence payments were paid in 2024/25.

A rapid national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services was ordered by health and social care secretary Wes Streeting in June 2025.

Davey said: ‘The extraordinary decision to gut ring-fenced funding for improved maternity care could lead to even more dangerous situations. We must do better for expectant mothers and their families. That means restoring this key training grant, implementing the actions from the Ockenden Review without delay, and ensuring crumbling and dangerous maternity units are urgently repaired.'