Baroness Amos’s interim report casts fresh light on NHS maternity care as mother’s undiagnosed pelvic injury underscores system-wide failures

A new interim update from Baroness Katharine Amos, chair of the Independent Investigation into Maternity and Neonatal Services in England, portrays maternity care as a crisis that is “much worse than anticipated” and warns that patients and families continue to experience unacceptable care. The report, issued last week, notes that NHS England has received 748 recommendations for change over the last decade, yet progress has been slow enough to prompt renewed calls for systemic reform across maternity services.

Rosie Taylor, a health journalist who has extensively covered the NHS crisis, recounts a personal ordeal that mirrors the broader concerns voiced by investigators. She describes a long and painful birth experience followed by a postnatal ward ordeal in which she says concerns about severe pain and the inability to move were dismissed as normal after childbirth. Taylor’s account emphasizes how a life-altering injury — a pelvic dislocation — went unrecognized on a short-staffed postnatal ward, leaving her to navigate ongoing pain and disability while caring for her newborn.

Taylor’s story begins with an 18-hour labour that ended with a sudden, excruciating pain she describes as a “pop” at the moment of birth. She says midwives and doctors told her the feeling was normal soreness, even as she and her husband pleaded for attention to a condition that later proved to be a pelvic dislocation, medically known as pubis symphysis diastasis. With the pain severe enough to prevent standing, walking, or even turning in bed, she required strong analgesia and a move to a postnatal bed, but was repeatedly reassured that her symptoms could not be serious because they followed childbirth.

In the days that followed, Taylor’s condition deteriorated rather than improved. A critical diagnosis did not arrive until seven days after the birth, when an X-ray finally revealed a pelvis in two pieces. Her medical journey highlights a rare injury, estimated to occur in fewer than one in 30,000 births. The rarity of the condition, combined with the perception that pain after delivery is to be expected, contributed to delayed recognition and treatment. Doctors subsequently diagnosed her with a congenital joint condition, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which may have predisposed her to the injury.

The consequences for Taylor extended beyond the immediate pain. She spent the first year post-delivery using crutches, relying on strong painkillers, and living with limited mobility that prevented many typical early-mParenthood milestones. She eventually underwent rehabilitative therapy, including a waist strap fitted by an NHS pelvic physiotherapist, and years of private physiotherapy at personal expense before regaining near-normal movement. Even after several years, she continues to experience episodic pain and distressing memories of the initial diagnosis delay.

Taylor’s experience is not isolated. The Birth Trauma Inquiry published findings last year that described a pattern of women being not listened to when they expressed concerns, being mocked or shouted at, and being denied basic needs such as pain relief. The inquiry collected about 1,300 personal submissions, painting a picture of a health system where communication gaps and overburdened wards contribute to suboptimal outcomes for mothers and babies. Baroness Amos has linked those testimonies to ongoing systemic challenges, including staffing shortages, inconsistent handoffs between maternity and postnatal teams, and the difficulty of maintaining patient-centred care on crowded wards.

Experts note that the pressures on maternity services are not new, but the scale of the problem has become more visible as investigations and survivor-led narratives bring frontline experiences to light. Baroness Amos has stressed that the existence of multiple guidelines and hundreds of recommendations does not by itself translate into safer, more reliable care; what is required is sustained change, better coordination across departments, and a prioritization of patient voices in care planning and delivery. Her interim findings call for urgent improvement while investigations continue, signaling that policymakers and NHS trusts must confront both procedural issues and culture shifts on maternity wards.

For Taylor, the road to recognition and recovery was painstaking, underscoring broader questions about how the NHS supports women after birth. She notes that a postnatal period designed to be one of joy can instead become a time of acute physical and emotional strain when concerns are dismissed. The progression from initial pain reports to a formal diagnosis highlights gaps in early intervention — gaps that Baroness Amos has described as unacceptable and preventable with proper attention to symptoms, timely imaging, and appropriate pain management.

In explaining the broader context, advocates point to the long-standing tension between high patient demand and finite clinical capacity within maternity services. The aftermath of childbirth — including pain, mobility limitations, and mental health impacts — has grown more visible as patients and advocates push for accountability and transparent reporting. The inquiry’s leverage lies in its ability to compile experiences like Taylor’s, then translate them into concrete reforms that enhance safety, communication, and patient-centred care across the maternity continuum from labor to the postnatal ward.

As the investigation continues, experts and patients alike hope that the NHS will translate the mounting body of evidence into action, ensuring that a mother’s voice is heard promptly and that serious conditions are identified and treated without delay. Baroness Amos’s assertion that change is not only possible but necessary and urgent remains a central call to action for policymakers, hospital leaders, and frontline staff seeking to restore trust in maternity care.