Senior midwife sues North Bristol NHS Trust, alleges bullying over TikTok posts

A senior midwife has launched legal action against North Bristol NHS Trust, alleging she was driven from her job after posting pregnancy and maternity commentary on TikTok and speaking up about safety concerns. Lara Basini-Millar, who worked for 21 years at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, is seeking compensation for unfair constructive dismissal at an employment tribunal due to start in Bristol on Monday.

Basini-Millar, 45, who posts under the name midwifemillar and has built a following of about 160,000, says she began using social media to support and empower pregnant women and to highlight what she described as a "worrying" culture in the trust's maternity services. She told the tribunal she was criticised by colleagues after her videos attracted attention and that a clique of fellow midwives created a WhatsApp group in which her posts were mocked and she was subjected to sustained pressure.

Basini-Millar said hospital managers later told her her content was "unprofessional, sexual in nature" and that she was "impersonating" a midwife at the trust, although she says her videos did not identify her employer and that the clothes she wore were privately purchased and not trust-issued. She said she was asked to hand in the clothes she wore in posts, which she said were different from the trust uniform.

Speaking before the hearing, Basini-Millar said she had raised concerns about serious incidents, including baby deaths, and felt those concerns were not being properly investigated. "The culture on and off over last five years has not been good. If you speak up about it, it becomes a problem," she said. She added that after receiving what she described as "constant bullying," she gave notice in late 2022.

After leaving Southmead, Basini-Millar said she was employed by another trust, Chelsea and Westminster, to develop their social media work. In March 2023 she said she was contacted and told she had made a serious clinical error and that her future shifts had been cancelled. Colleagues reported her to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), prompting an urgent fitness-to-practise review, she said.

The NMC, after reviewing the referral, found no immediate concerns and later wrote to Basini-Millar saying the investigation had been closed as "there was no case for you to answer." An internal review at Southmead Hospital concluded there was no evidence to support the central allegation that she had coerced a woman to attempt a vaginal birth against medical advice, the claimant said.

Basini-Millar said she rejected a settlement offer of £9,500 from the trust ahead of the tribunal and that the case was not about money. "This isn't about the money for me. I was offered a settlement to be silent. But if the truth can come out, someone somewhere might actually do something," she told reporters.

She said the referral to the regulator was "malicious" and had left her considering leaving the professional register altogether. "My tribunal starts next Monday but I will not work as an NHS midwife again and am considering coming off the register completely because of the way I've been treated," she said.

The North Bristol NHS Trust said it would be "inappropriate" to comment while the employment tribunal is pending. In a statement the trust said the allegations were subject to legal proceedings and that its staff were "deeply valued" and that it took "any and all concerns raised with the utmost seriousness."

Basini-Millar previously appeared on the television programme One Born Every Minute and said she initially created her TikTok account to help women "believe in themselves" during pregnancy. Among the criticisms levelled at her by colleagues, she said, were that some of her videos were sexually suggestive; she acknowledged posting light-hearted videos in which she danced while offering advice about sex in pregnancy but said these did not identify her workplace or imply professional impropriety.

Her employment claim contends she was constructively dismissed after being made to feel unable to continue in her role because of the combined effect of colleague complaints, managerial actions and the referral to the regulator. The tribunal, scheduled to run for five days, will consider whether the trust's actions amounted to unfair constructive dismissal and whether the disciplinary and reporting processes were handled appropriately.

The case arrives amid broader national scrutiny of maternity services and staff raising concerns. Health providers and regulators are under pressure to ensure that concerns raised by clinicians and midwives are investigated properly and that staff who speak out are protected from victimisation. The North Bristol NHS Trust said that, beyond its comment that it could not discuss an ongoing legal matter, it had no further statement at this stage.

The outcome of the employment tribunal could have implications for how trusts and regulators handle complaints and social media activity by clinical staff, and it will assess the balance between professional conduct standards and staff members' rights to speak publicly about care and working conditions. The tribunal is due to hear evidence from Basini-Millar, colleagues and trust representatives over several days in Bristol.