Rate of severe postpartum bleeds set to reach five-year high

The rate of severe postpartum haemorrhages look set to reach their highest level on record in 2025, according to official data analysed by the Liberal Democrats.

The news has prompted renewed concern about safety and resourcing in maternity services across England.

The analysis, based on monthly statistics from NHS Digital, shows that the rate of haemorrhages involving blood loss of 1.5 litres or more during or after childbirth has risen steadily over the last five years.

In the three months to September 2025, the rate reached 32 cases per 1,000 births, compared with 27 per 1,000 in the same period in 2020, an increase of nearly 20%.

The data comes as an independent investigation, launched by the government in June and led by former government minister Baroness Amos, is currently examining serious failings in maternity and neonatal services.

A rise in postpartum haemorrhages

During the first six months of 2025, 8,340 women were recorded as experiencing these severe bleeds, the highest figure since national recording began. The rate during this period was 32 per 1,000 births, up from 31 per 1,000 in 2024 and 28 per 1,000 in 2021.

The Liberal Democrats party has urged the government to introduce a ‘maternity rescue plan’ aimed at bringing all maternity units up to a ‘good’ Care Quality Commission rating for safety.

A group of MPs have supported a letter from the party’s health spokesperson, Helen Morgan, to health secretary Wes Streeting, warning that delays in implementing existing maternity safety recommendations have been ‘an insult’ to mothers.

The letter argues that waiting for the conclusions of the ongoing Amos review is ‘not good enough for families suffering needless tragedy’.

The MPs have called for the full restoration of ring-fenced funding for maternity improvements, which they say has been reduced from £95m to £2m.

They are also pressing for the full implementation of the recommendations of the Ockenden Review, as well as the introduction of new national standards for miscarriage care.

The Review was established in NHS England (NHSE) in May 2022 and responds to concerns raised about the quality and safety of maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH).

What does the letter demand?

Restore ring-fenced funding for improving maternity care
Implement the outstanding recommendations of existing reviews into maternity, including the Immediate and Essential Actions of the Ockenden Review. This should include a specific commitment to tackle inadequate staffing on maternity units.
Improve women’s health before and after childbirth, including through a restored requirement for Women’s Health Hubs in every part of the country, and new specific plans for prevention of maternity harm as well as an expansion of community perinatal services.
Address disparities in maternal outcomes, a cross-government target and strategy, led by the department, and the publication of annual reports on progress in reducing miscarriage and stillbirth rates
Introduce national recording of miscarriages, and guarantee support and referral, including to NHS mental health services after every miscarriage, not just after three.

Source: The Liberal Democrats

Nursing leaders have repeatedly warned that staffing pressures, workload and variation in training can affect the timely management of obstetric emergencies, highlighting the importance of sustained investment in maternity services and the nursing workforce.

Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Helen Morgan said: ‘It is completely heartbreaking to see just how many families experience unacceptable injuries and trauma at a time that should be full of excitement and joy.’

Ms Morgan called for an emergency rescue plan to end ‘inadequate’ and ‘unsafe’ maternity plans.

‘People feel trapped in a system where nothing changes, and the same errors are repeated review after review. We need a maternity rescue plan now, to end inadequate, unsafe care.

‘This would finally fund and implement the recommendations of the many investigations into maternity scandals in this country, which all too often have been neglected.’

Earlier this month, Baroness Amos, chair of the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation (NMNI) warned that problems with services are ‘much worse than I anticipated’, in her initial reflections on care quality across England.

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In November, the chair of Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) wrote to the government expressing serious concern and called for ‘urgent clarification’ over delays to the independent investigation into maternity and neonatal care.

In September, the HSCC published a report into black maternal health which found significant disparities in outcomes, alongside systemic failings in safety and quality of maternity care for black women.

The Department of Health and Social Care have been contacted for comment.