MAMA Academy meets with The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

On Wednesday 10th June 2026, MAMA Academy Founder and CEO Heidi Eldridge met with James Murray MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, as part of the National Maternity and Neonatal Collective, a powerful alliance of over 100 organisations and individuals united in their commitment to transforming maternity care across the UK.

The meeting, convened by Make Birth Better, also brought together Baroness Gillian Merron, Michelle Welsh MP, National Maternity Adviser, and Professor Donald Peebles, National Clinical Director for Maternity at NHS England, making it one of the most significant gatherings of maternity safety advocates in recent years.

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A Strategic Plan for Change

Earlier this year, the Collective developed a comprehensive strategic plan, which was formally presented to the National Maternity and Neonatal Inquiry. The plan represents the collective voice of hundreds of professionals, campaigners, and bereaved families calling for systemic, lasting reform of the UK’s maternity services.

Heidi’s Call to Action

Speaking on behalf of MAMA Academy, Heidi addressed two critical issues facing the maternity safety landscape:

Accountability and independent oversight. Heidi called for a truly independent mechanism for investigating maternity safety failures, one that guarantees parents receive the answers they deserve and ensures that tragedies are never repeated. She highlighted the urgent need for national oversight of stillbirth prevention, an area where accountability has long been lacking.

A national fetal growth monitoring programme. Heidi called on the government to establish a national programme to monitor detection rates, evaluate surveillance methods, and identify growth problems before babies die. This is a potentially life-saving intervention that remains absent from national policy. 

Moving Forward Together

Leaving the meeting, the Collective felt heard and listened to. But for MAMA Academy, this is only the beginning. Alongside our fellow members of the National Maternity and Neonatal Collective, we will continue to work with the Secretary of State and NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Maternity to ensure the strategic plan is implemented in full.

Heidi Eldridge, Founder and CEO of MAMA Academy, said:

“Being part of the National Maternity and Neonatal Collective is both a privilege and a responsibility. To stand alongside so many passionate, dedicated organisations, all united by the same goal, is truly humbling. I am deeply grateful that Secretary of State James Murray MP gave us his time and genuinely listened to what we had to say. We left that room feeling heard, and that matters enormously. But what matters most now is action. No more babies should die unnecessarily in this country. Transforming maternity services isn’t a political ambition, it is a moral imperative. We sincerely hope that James Murray will seize this moment and drive the change that so many families are desperately waiting for.”

We are calling for actions, not words.

You can read the full strategic plan, submitted to the National Maternity and Neonatal Inquiry, here.

MAMA Academy remains fully committed to ensuring the UK becomes one of the safest places in the world to have a baby. There is much work to do, and we will not stop until it is done.