'You’re not on your own': Bereaved Leeds families share experiences at second maternity review meeting
Families who attended the meeting said it was the first time they realised they were not alone in their experiences, with many having spent years believing their experiences were isolated
Families affected by maternity failings in Leeds came together at the Met Hotel on Saturday (September 26) for the second meeting led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden - with many saying it was the first time they realised they were not alone in their experiences.
The session was aimed at families who have not previously engaged with the review into Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s maternity services.
Ockenden, who is leading the review, said attendance was “very large”, with some parents only hearing about the meeting the day before and contacting her team late on Friday night to ask if they could join.
“Today was an opportunity for families who perhaps hadn’t been involved in the review to date to come and meet other families,” she told the Yorkshire Evening Post after the meeting. “I think it’s been a source of comfort for a lot of families to know that they’re not on their own.”
She added: “Nobody wants to be in an Ockenden‑led review because it usually means you’ve had a bad outcome. But at the same time, knowing that they’re not alone is really, really important.”
Among those attending were Dan Ramm and Fiona Winser‑Ramm, who lost their daughter Aliona and have campaigned for the review to be established. They said many families had spent years believing their experiences were isolated.
“People thought they were the only one,” Fiona said. “They thought something like this had never happened to anybody else - and in large part, people were led to believe that by what they were being told by the hospital.”
She said hearing other families speak about their experiences felt “like looking in the mirror”.
“These people are the only people who get it,” she said. “To create this safe space for people to be seen, to be heard, and just to feel connected is really, really important.”
Dan said families who attend the meetings should feel confident that their voices will be taken seriously.
“Families feel they can come here, share their accounts and experiences, that they are listened to, they are recognised, and they are heard,” he said. “That’s so important for families who have never been listened to before, and never felt like they’ve been believed before.”
During the meeting, Ockenden outlined the next steps of the review. The terms of reference - which set out the scope of the investigation - will be published on Monday.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals will then begin identifying all cases that fall within that scope, allowing Ockenden’s team to start writing directly to families.
She said staff testimony would also form a key part of the process.
“It’s vital that we hear from staff on the ground,” she said. “More than 830 current and former staff came forward in Nottingham, and we anticipate that large numbers of staff at Leeds Teaching Hospitals will want to talk to us as well.”
For Fiona and Dan, the aim of the review remains clear.
“Bluntly, meaningful change would look like people walking out of the hospital with their healthy living children instead of walking out with a memory box,” Fiona said. “The whole city of Leeds deserves better.”
Their message to families who have not yet come forward was simple.
“We want to hear from you,” Dan said. “If you come here, you will be listened to, and you will be believed.”