Every midwife remembers certain mothers.

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Not always the most dramatic births, or the loudest emergencies, but the women who smile and say they are fine when you can see they are holding everything together by a thread. The woman who has read so much conflicting advice online that she no longer knows who to trust. The woman who is worried about her baby, her body, her mental health, her job, her partner, her other children, and still feels she should somehow be grateful, glowing, and coping.

We talk a lot about birth as a beginning. Yet the truth is that the first days, weeks, and months of a baby’s life do not just shape the child. They shape the mother too. They can be full of joy, but they can also be frightening, painful and overwhelming.

The recent announcement that the HPV vaccine will help drive cervical cancer deaths among young women in England to almost zero shows the importance of supporting our young people. Right now, too many women are being asked to navigate pregnancy and early motherhood without that same level of support.

Britain’s maternity crisis is often spoken about through scandals, statistics, and inquiries. The Ockenden report into Nottingham’s maternity services is a painful reminder of what can happen when women’s concerns are dismissed, staff are overstretched, and unsafe cultures are allowed to take root. The review examined thousands of cases involving the death or serious harm of mothers and babies, making it the largest maternity investigation in NHS history.

The response to the Amos review shows that the problem is not confined to one trust or one inquiry. The appointment of England’s first maternity and neonatal commissioner is a welcome acknowledgement that childbirth care needs urgent reform, but it is also a sobering one.

Lady Amos’s review found a system........

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