Anne Kavanagh
Partner
Maternity Care Today
Maternity Care Today, hosted by Dr Nighat Arif, is a conversation-led series bringing together healthcare professionals, experts and lived experience to explore how maternity care can continue to evolve.
Grounded in national insight and real family experiences, the series looks at some of the most important challenges across pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period — from communication and support to accountability and system pressures.
Through open, practical conversations, each episode focuses on one key insight and one clear question: what needs to change — and how do we make that change happen in practice?
How do we make maternity recommendations, reality?
Episode 1
Dr Arif is joined by Dr Anita Banerjee, Obstetric Physician and Consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and Sharon Williams, our Medical Negligence Partner.
We explore one of the most persistent challenges in maternity care: how we turn learning into meaningful, lasting change.
While there is a significant body of national evidence, reviews and recommendations aimed at improving services, many of the same concerns continue to be raised by families and professionals.
Understanding why this happens is critical. Drawing on insights from healthcare professionals, lived experience and findings from the Irwin Mitchell Maternity Care report, this episode examines where the gap lies between recommendations being made and improvements being consistently embedded in practice.
The conversation looks at what “good learning” really means in maternity care, beyond policies and documentation, and how organisations can ensure that learning is applied across the full maternity pathway, including postnatal care.
Birth and beyond, what does good postnatal support look like?
Episode 2
In this episode, we're exploring what good postnatal support really looks like and why this stage of care has been so often overlooked.
In Irwin Mitchell's latest maternity report, 28% of parents said that they experienced mental health challenges following their maternity care, and over a third said they didn't feel that support is there when it's needed the most.
As contact with services reduces after birth, the weeks and months that follow can be a time where gaps in support are felt most strongly, particularly when it comes to physical recovery, mental health, and continuity of care.
Dr Nighat Arif is joined by Kim Thomas, CEO of the Birth Trauma Association, and Sara Burns, Medical Negligence Partner at Irwin Mitchell.
Share your perspective
If you’d like to discuss any of the themes raised, or share your perspective, we’d welcome the conversation.
Shaping safer maternity care for every family
Maternity Services Survey
We recently surveyed over 1,000 adults across England and Wales to find out how new and expectant parents really feel about maternity care.
The survey highlighted concerns around safety, communication, staffing pressures and postnatal support. It was made clear how difficult it can be to speak up, particularly at times of exhaustion, anxiety, or vulnerability.