Baby Loss

Debate between Caroline Nokes and Michael Payne

Monday 13th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Michael Payne (Gedling) (Lab)]

I rise, in Baby Loss Awareness Week, to pay tribute to the far too many families in Gedling and Nottinghamshire who have suffered the devastating loss of their babies in circumstances that were entirely avoidable. They placed their trust in a system that should have protected them, and that system failed them.

The Ockenden review of maternity services in Nottingham is now supporting 2,500 families who have been affected by neonatal deaths, injuries, stillbirths and maternity deaths. Many of them were failed by the NMC, failed by the GMC, failed by the CQC and failed by our NHS. Regulation must be overhauled, and accountability must improve.

The mothers and fathers who have come forward in Gedling and Nottinghamshire have shown extraordinary dignity, courage and perseverance in the face of heartbreak that most of us can barely begin to comprehend. Yet even in the face of unspeakable loss, each and every family I have met in Gedling and Nottinghamshire who have lost a child or suffered harm during birth have reminded me that light always shines brightest in the darkest places. In the depths of their grief, their pursuit of truth and change honours their children’s memory and stands as a beacon of tremendous humanity and hope.

I want to take a moment to pay a special tribute to the incredible charities, volunteers and support organisations who walk alongside bereaved families day in, day out. They bring comfort where it is needed most, and we all owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude.

In speaking of courage and compassion, I also want to take a moment to thank my friend and neighbour, the Member of Parliament for Sherwood Forest, Michelle Welsh. Long before she entered this place, Michelle walked side by side with Nottinghamshire families through years of anguish and struggle, standing shoulder to shoulder with them when few others would. Just 37 days ago, she suffered her own loss with the passing of her beloved dad, who taught her to fight always against injustice, wherever she found it. Just days after losing her dad, she was back in Parliament, meeting bereaved maternity families. In thanking Michelle for her leadership today—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

Order. The hon. Gentleman will know that we do not refer to Members by name in this place. That is the third time he has referred to the hon. Member for Sherwood Forest by her name.

[Michael Payne]

My apologies, Madam Deputy Speaker.

In thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood Forest (Michelle Welsh) for her leadership today, I want to say that her dad would have been so incredibly proud to sit in the Gallery today to see his little girl in this Chamber using the privilege of her platform to fight for those who have been failed and suffered the most unimaginable loss.

I also pay tribute to the families who have campaigned for years for change and justice. We owe them far more than sympathy. We owe them justice, and we owe them truth.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order. The hon. Gentleman has had more than three minutes, and I want the Front Benchers to have some time to respond. I call Dave Robertson.