EPISODE · Apr 2, 2026 · 49 MIN
Blame, shame and pain: Maternity, midwives and the media
from Media Storm · host Mathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia
Care about independent and ethical news? Support Media Storm on Patreon! Warning: this episode mentions baby loss and birth trauma. How many times have you read a headline that tells you UK maternity services are in ‘crisis’? And how many times have you really understood why they're in crisis? A recent interim report into England's maternity and neonatal care had some brutal findings: hospital mistake 'cover-ups', negligent care from frontline workers, lack of staff and poorer maternal outcomes for ethnic minority women. But identifying the problems is just the beginning – understanding their root cause is harder, and something our press repeatedly fails to do. Financial incentive schemes that reward units whose data meets certain 'safety' targets put the lives of pregnant people on the line – but midwives with low morale, burnout, unsustainable working hours and stress take the brunt of the blame in the media, even when their voices are notably missing from the coverage about them. What's really behind headlines about a lack of staff? Is there really a woo-woo 'normal birth ideology' killing mothers and babies? And why are outcomes so different depending on skin colour? Here to answer all those questions is Leah Hazard, NHS midwife and author of 'Hard Pushed: A Midwife's Story', and Illiyin Morrison, perinatal trauma specialist midwife and author of 'The Birth Debrief'. You can sign Leah's petition for legal limits on midwives working hours here. This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) The music is by @soundofsamfire Follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What this episode covers
Care about independent and ethical news? Support Media Storm on Patreon! Warning: this episode mentions baby loss and birth trauma. How many times have you read a headline that tells you UK maternity services are in ‘crisis’? And how many times have you really understood why they're in crisis? A recent interim report into England's maternity and neonatal care had some brutal findings: hospital mistake 'cover-ups', negligent care from frontline workers, lack of staff and poorer maternal outcomes for ethnic minority women. But identifying the problems is just the beginning – understanding their root cause is harder, and something our press repeatedly fails to do. Financial incentive schemes that reward units whose data meets certain 'safety' targets put the lives of pregnant people on the line – but midwives with low morale, burnout, unsustainable working hours and stress take the brunt of the blame in the media, even when their voices are notably missing from the coverage about them. What's really behind headlines about a lack of staff? Is there really a woo-woo 'normal birth ideology' killing mothers and babies? And why are outcomes so different depending on skin colour? Here to answer all those questions is Leah Hazard, NHS midwife and author of 'Hard Pushed: A Midwife's Story', and Illiyin Morrison, perinatal trauma specialist midwife and author of 'The Birth Debrief'. You can sign Leah's petition for legal limits on midwives working hours here. This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) The music is by @soundofsamfire Follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Blame, shame and pain: Maternity, midwives and the media
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