The midwife leading a review into failings at Nottingham's maternity services has said the scope of the investigation is wider than that of the UK's largest maternity scandal.
Donna Ockenden, who previously led the review at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust that found failings led to the deaths of more than 200 babies, set out the terms of reference for the Nottingham review on Tuesday.
A new category of severe maternal harm has been added to include cases that did not result in death or injury. Ms Ockenden said the review, which started earlier this month, had got off to a 'fast start' and she was pleased with the number of families and staff members who had already come forward.
She explained: 'We felt adding in the category of severe maternal harm would help us to understand women's experiences and help us to learn and help the trust to learn from those cases as well. So actually there's been a widening of the scope which our review team felt was important.'
The review aims to identify cases of severe maternal harm, such as unexpected admission to intensive care or a major obstetric haemorrhage. Ms Ockenden encouraged anyone with concerns about their maternity experience to come forward, even if the outcome was not tragic.
