--- title: The state of care in England's maternity services description: The state of maternity care has been highlighted as especially challenged. What can be done? image: https://blog.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/hubfs/Maternity%20sign.jpg --- [![THIS Institute. The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute.](https://blog.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/hubfs/logo-dark-this.svg) ![THIS Institute. The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute.](https://mk0thisinstitut0r1om.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/themes/this/img/logo-this.svg)](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/) - About - [About THIS](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/about/) - [Who we are](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/about/who-we-are/) - [What we do](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/about/what-we-do/) - [Vacancies](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/about/vacancies/) - [Research](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/research/) - [Our research](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/research) - [Projects](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/projects/) - [Outputs](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/outputs/) - Fellowships - [Introduction](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/fellowships/) - [Fellows](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/fellowships/meet-the-fellows/) - [Stories](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/fellowships/stories) - [Events](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/events/) - [Podcast](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/podcast/) - [Blog](https://blog.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk) - [Contact](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/contact/) [![The Health Foundation.](https://blog.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/hubfs/hf-logo-colour.svg) ![The Health Foundation.](https://mk0thisinstitut0r1om.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/themes/this/img/logo-hf-white.svg)](https://www.health.org.uk/) - 21st November 2023 - 1 min read # The state of care in England's maternity services #### The state of maternity care has been highlighted as especially challenged. What can be done? [![Sarah Clark](https://blog.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/hubfs/Sarah%20Clark2.jpg)](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/about/people/sarah-clark) [Sarah Clark](https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/about/people/sarah-clark) Maternity services are among the areas that have been identified as especially challenged in the latest [Care Quality Commission (CQC) report](https://www.cqc.org.uk/publications/major-report/state-care) on the state of care in England. Even though the problems the report has identified are shocking, they come as no surprise at a time of high-profile organisational failures and soaring clinical negligence claims. In an editorial for the BMJ, Mary Dixon-Woods, Zenab Barry, James McGowan, and Graham Martin discuss some of the issues affecting maternity services in England. We suggest that for a regulatory model to work, three elements have to work well: standard setting, monitoring, and mechanisms to secure improvement. Currently the third component – making improvement – demonstrates significant weakness. A hard look at how “improvement” is currently being done and where efforts can add most value is much needed. 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