London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

More than 60 MPs sign letter calling for partners to be allowed at births

More than 60 MPs sign letter calling for partners to be allowed at births

More than 60 MPs are calling for NHS trusts to lift the ban on partners being bedside during births.

The practice, brought in amid the coronavirus lockdown, has forced thousands of expecting parents to attend stressful appointments without the support of their loved ones.

In a letter, signed by former Health Secretary Jeremey Hunt, the MPs have now demanded the rules be changed as they accused local health chiefs of ‘dragging their feet’.

They also argue that the trusts have failed to follow Government guidance, which allows family members to be present at scans and during labour.

The letter, launched with the Mail on Sunday, states: ‘We are failing women if restrictive support policies in pregnancy are allowed to continue one moment longer than they need to.

‘Their partners have been locked out of scans and hospital rooms, anxiously separated from the people they love most in the world with no idea whether the outcome would be as they hoped, or as they desperately feared.’

Pregnant Tory MP Alicia Kearns organised the letter after her own experience in hospital. Her partner was present at a scan two months ago, and she said it is ‘utterly heart-breaking’ that not all pregnant women could not say the same.

She went on: ‘I can’t imagine having to go through giving birth without my partner. Trusts had the ability to change these rules when we came out of national lockdown, but didn’t.’


Government policy on births has now changed


One woman last week is reported to have given birth to a stillborn baby at 41 weeks without her partner present during labour. A relative said: ‘She is traumatised, even more so as she was alone to hear this news and hold her dead baby.’

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM), the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Royal College of Anaesthetists all say women should be allowed ‘one birth partner’ by their side during labour in most cases.

Government guidelines published last week state that hospitals can allow partners into scans and appointments. Maternity Minister Nadine Dorries said partners had a ‘vital role to provide emotional support,’ and added that it has been ‘painful to hear stories of women facing difficult moments and conversations alone’.

However, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust still states on its website to ‘not bring anyone to your scan’. Partners can stay for the labour and birth, but will have to leave after the visiting hours of noon to 7 pm.

Similar rules have been put in place in Nottingham University Hospitals, although partners can now attend the routine 12 and 20-week scans.

Liverpool Women’s Hospital operates on a similar policy, stating in their guidelines: ‘There is currently no postnatal ward visiting.’

Professor Mandie Sunderland, chief nurse at Nottingham University Hospitals told the Mail that their guidance was under review and that their ‘priority remains to keep mums and babies safe’. She said their ‘stringent visiting policy’ had so far allowed that to happen.

Imperial College Healthcare Trust said: ‘We are currently reviewing the visiting restrictions. We understand how difficult the current restrictions are and will do all we can to make changes quickly while also ensuring everyone’s safety.’

Andrew Loughney at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, said: ‘Following the recent change in national guidance, we are planning to lift restrictions.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
×