Yvette Cooper backs new maternity commissioner as NHS care review pressure grows

Yvette Cooper has said she wants to overhaul maternity services in England and create a national maternity commissioner, as pressure builds for changes after recent reviews into NHS care. The health secretary made the remarks amid renewed debate over preventable baby loss, injury and maternal deaths.

The call for reform follows reports led by Valerie Amos and Donna Ockenden, which have intensified demands for a system-wide response to repeated failures in maternity care. Families affected by poor care have long sought answers, accountability and changes that would reduce the risk of similar harm.

Julia Sanders, a professor of clinical midwifery at Cardiff University and an adviser to the national maternity and neonatal investigation led by Amos, argued that the service needs broad structural change rather than limited fixes. She said the needs of women and families should be placed at the centre of maternity provision.

Cooper told the Guardian that she wanted to make improving maternity care a personal priority and said she was committed to the commissioner role. The debate comes as the NHS faces continuing scrutiny over how maternity services are run and overseen.