To stop women dying in childbirth, Britain must look beyond easy answers | Rebecca Schiller

That the UK is ranked outside the top 20 places to give birth is shocking, but we must be cautious not to attempt to impose quick fixes on a complex problem

British women and babies are dying in greater numbers than they should, says Save the Children’s State of the World’s Mothers report. That the UK is ranked outside the top 20 places to give birth – behind countries such as Poland, Belarus and Greece – is shocking. The reasons are complex and not entirely understood.

That maternity services in the UK aren’t perfect should be no surprise to most of us. Tragedies such as the deaths of mothers and babies at Morecambe Bay, and the subsequent Kirkup report that has precipitated a national maternity review, serve as sharp reminders of the human cost of failures in a system that acts as the gateway to life and parenthood.

Related: British mothers twice as likely to die in childbirth as Polish women

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