This week our host and former MP, Theo Clarke, is joined by Donna Ockenden, to discuss improving maternity care and the current challenges facing UK maternity services.
Topics that we discuss on the show include: what are the issues that maternity services are currently facing; how these issues impact families and staff; “maternity is not an island” and the interaction of a number of services in providing care; other organisations and individuals that impact on service provision; good practice nationally and what needs to be done to improve services; the need for a maternity commissioner; and an update on her investigations into Nottingham and Leeds NHS care.
Biographies:
Donna Ockenden has more than 35 years’ experience within a variety of health settings both in the UK and internationally. In 2017 Donna was appointed to chair the Independent Review into Maternity Services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust, the final report of which was published in spring 2022. In May 2022, Donna was appointed as the Chair of the Independent review into Maternity Services at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which is expected to publish in June 2026.
Theo Clarke (host) was the Member of Parliament for Stafford. She chaired the first parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma in British history and previously set up the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Birth Trauma in the House of Commons. She won Speech of the Year at the Parliamentarian of the Year Awards and has been included in the prestigious Top 100 Women in Westminster list three years in a row. Theo hosts the hit podcast Breaking the Taboo which ranks in the Top 5 most listened to shows in the UK for alternative health and a book club at A Thread of One’s Own. She has also published a bestselling memoir ‘Breaking the Taboo: why we need to talk about birth trauma’.
This podcast is sponsored by the law firm Irwin Mitchell.
DISCLAIMER: This show is not intended to be medical advice – please seek advice from a GP or doctor.
Website: www.theo-clarke.org.uk/podcast
Don’t suffer in silence! Listen in and let’s break the final taboo in women’s health #breakingthetaboo.
Breaking The Taboo production team:
Producer: Natasha Feroze
Designer: Emily Ryder
Social Media: Bella Carter
Studio Manager: Adam Woodward
