Several dozen families to launch their own maternity inquiry after losing faith in NHS probe

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. More than 70 families who claim they were harmed by maternity care in Swansea are set to launch a family-led maternity review after they lost faith in an inquiry commissioned by Swansea Bay Health Board. Swansea Bay University Health Board announced it would commission an independent review into its maternity and neonatal services following concerns raised by families over deaths and injuries to babies during birth and by women who have suffered traumatic births due to alleged poor care. Families who have already been so badly affected have had their harm and distress compounded by the way they have been treated.” James Titcombe, who campaigned for a separate major inquiry into failings at Morecambe Bay Hospital after his son died, said: “There is very clearly a need for a fully independent inquiry to examine these events, but this must put the needs, experiences and wishes of the families affected at the absolute front and centre.” In September, Ms Ockenden warned the Conservative government had failed to implement the recommendations from the Shrewsbury Maternity Inquiry and had “fallen asleep” at the wheel. That’s why the review has used a number of different ways of engaging with families, directly and indirectly, that have already resulted in a wide range of valuable input.” A spokesperson of the Maternity & Neonatal Independent Review for Swansea Bay said: “Swansea Bay Health Board has put the focus on women and their families at the heart of the Independent Review into Maternity and Neonatal Services.