Number of serious childbirth injuries spikes by over a fifth
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The number of third and fourth degree perineal tears following child birth has spiked dramatically since 2021 with the injuries now affecting almost 3% of all births.
The data found that, as of 2024, almost 29 in every 1,000 births now results in a serious perineal tear, up from 23.5 in 2021, the first full year of comparable data. That is a rise of more than a fifth. The number has risen every year between the comparable years since that data began to be recorded. Throughout 2024 there were 7,995 third or fourth degree tears reported.
The research also revealed that the number of readmissions following childbirth has risen on last year, with more than 5% of all childbirths resulting in one with more than 14,000 reported in 2024.
It comes as previous Liberal Democrat research has also found that the number of maternal deaths has also risen from 209 in 2015-17 to 254 in 2021-23. The NHS has faced a £27 billion bill for maternity failings over recent years, far more than the health service’s £18 billion budget for newborns over that period.
In April the government announced cuts to the national Service Development Funding (SDF) for maternity services from £95m in 2024-25 to just £2m in 2025-26. The fund had been introduced following the Ockenden Review into maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford to improve the quality of maternity care.
The Liberal Democrats said the figures were “heartbreaking” as more mothers had to endure these traumatic births. The party has called on the Government to immediately implement all of the actions from the Ockenden report into maternity care and to reverse the cuts to the SDF.
Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:
“Behind these figures are heartbreaking stories of women suffering unimaginable trauma at a moment that should be full of joy.
“The Conservatives neglect of maternity services was unforgivable, putting mothers and babies under threat, but Labour risks kicking action on this problem into the long grass. We of course need to understand why these awful injuries are on the rise but the Government’s inquiry cannot be used as a shield against taking meaningful action now.
“It is unacceptable that, while so many women die or are injured by poor maternity care, the Government raided the key ring-fenced fund for improving maternity services. Their promises to improve safety will ring hollow until they change course.
“If the Government is serious about ending the disaster unfolding on our maternity wards, they must reverse these cuts at once, support our hard-working NHS teams, and implement every measure in the Ockenden Review without delay.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
The research, which analysed official NHS statistics, can be found here. Please note the CQIMTears indicator was only introduced in 2020 and the CQIMReadmissions indicator in 2024. The attached spreadsheet contains the quarterly denominator (number affected) and numerator data (births).
Data for 2020 and 2025 is incomplete and therefore not comparable with other years. The NHS notes that: “There have been a number of issues in terms of non-response from providers which in turn has an impact on the geographical coverage expected of the data set, hence some caution should be taken when interpreting the data at levels higher than individual provider level.”
The rate per 1,000 is a more meaningful measure to compare over time than the numerator data.
Previous Liberal Democrat research on maternal deaths is reported here.
Reporting on the NHS compensation bill due to maternity failings can be found here.
RCMs comments on the SDF cuts can be found here.
Total 2024 rate of tears was 28.6 per thousand
2025 rate so far is 29.16 per thousand
The story was first reported by the Guardian.