The health secretary deserves praise for trying something new. But links between poor care and overstretched staff must not be avoided

The announcement of a new inquiry into maternity care failures in England, including the shockingly higher risk of mortality faced by black and Asian mothers, indicates an overdue recognition that improvements are needed. From the devastating 2015 review of a decade of failure at Morecambe Bay, to last year’s birth trauma report from MPs, there is no shortage of evidence that women face unacceptable risks when giving birth on the NHS. The question is whether a review chaired by Wes Streeting himself can achieve what previous ones have not.

His role as chair is not the only novel aspect of this inquiry. A panel including bereaved parents will share their experiences and knowledge, alongside expert evidence. This format should focus minds on the human consequences of systemic failures, including mother and baby deaths, and on the need for accountability when things go wrong.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Health secretary launches national inquiry into care of mothers and babies in England, saying there is ‘too much passing the buck’

• UK politics live – latest updates

The health secretary, Wes Streeting, has launched a national investigation into NHS maternity services in England, saying that “maternity units are failing, hospitals are failing, trusts are failing, regulators are failing” and there was “too much passing the buck”.

Speaking at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ (RCOG) annual conference on Monday, Streeting said the inquiry would urgently look at the 10 worst-performing services in the country, as well as the entire maternity system.

WHO calls for higher cigarette taxes, plus graphic warnings on vapes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches

Aggressively marketed vapes threaten to undo progress made on smoking control, according to the World Health Organization.

Officials, speaking at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin, said efforts were stalling when it came to helping tobacco users to quit, campaigning in the media on the dangers, and imposing higher taxes on tobacco products. Young people were particularly vulnerable, it added.

A growing number of abortions happen through telehealth – including for women in states with strict bans

Three years after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, erasing the national right to abortion and paving the way for more than a dozen states to ban the procedure, the number of abortions performed in the US is still on the rise – including in some states that ban the procedure.

US abortion providers performed 1.14m abortions in 2024, according to new data released on Monday by #WeCount, a Society of Family Planning project that has tracked abortion provision since 2022. That’s the highest number on record in recent years.

Advocates fear Senate’s version of Trump’s budget bill could leave millions without healthcare and boost corporations

Advocates are urging Senate Republicans to reject a proposal to cut billions from American healthcare to extend tax breaks that primarily benefit the wealthy and corporations.

The proposal would make historic cuts to Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income and disabled people that covers 71 million Americans, and is the Senate version of the “big beautiful bill” act, which contains most of Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.

The punishing but enduring ‘too posh to push’ fallacy is still prevalent and judgment abounds. This has to change

There was nothing about giving birth that didn’t feel personal, from the agony of my 30-hour induced labour to my eventual journey to the operating theatre where my son was delivered by emergency caesarean section. At that point, I had no idea that I was part of an upward trend in the number of C-sections. Rates of the procedure are rising globally, but it is particularly stark in the UK. When I gave birth in 2017, 29% of births in England took place by C-section. In 2025, that figure stands at 42%.

Why is this happening? There are leading voices within obstetrics, some of whom I spoke to while researching, who put it firmly down to rising levels of obesity, and the increased risks that come with it – including being more likely to need a C-section. But obesity intersects with other risk factors for pregnancy and birth complications, such as social deprivation. And then there is the fact that so many of us are having our babies later than previous generations – age being yet another risk factor for complications during pregnancy and birth, including a higher likelihood of having a C-section. Evidently, it’s a complex picture, and there is not one clear answer.

Hannah Marsh is the author of Thread: A Caesarean story of myth, magic and medicine

Exclusive: Analysis by Royal Society for Public Health suggests obesity rates will rise in 90% of the country

The majority of children will be overweight or obese in nine areas of England by 2035, according to “deeply concerning” projections showing child obesity rates are set to worsen across 90% of the country.

More than a third of primary school children (36%) are already overweight or obese, figures from the government’s national child measurement programme show.

About 220,000 patients expected to receive Mounjaro over three years as GPs can prescribe the drugs for the first time

Thousands of patients in England will be able to access weight-loss jabs via their GP from Monday for the first time.

The mass rollout on the NHS means family doctors will be allowed to prescribe the drugs for the first time. About 220,000 people with “greatest need” are expected to receive Mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide and made by Eli Lilly, on the NHS over the next three years.

Exclusive: Analysis finds domestic abuse training for staff in England and Wales ‘sporadic and inconsistent’

Domestic abuse is a public health emergency, experts have claimed, after a report concluded that the NHS is failing victims by not training staff to spot and respond to the signs of domestic violence.

About one in four people (21.6%) in England and Wales aged 16 years and over have experienced domestic abuse, affecting 12.6 million people, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Visitors staying at ‘healing retreats’ bring vital income to the diverse cultures of the region, writes Enrico Malatesta, while Emily Webster says there is no need to leave the UK to find shamanic healing. Plus, a letter by John Lowrie

Your article (‘Ayahuasca tourism’ is a blight on Indigenous peoples and our environment, 17 June) brings up important concerns but it looks at a complicated issue too narrowly. It is worth remembering that the word “ayahuasca” itself is not a modern invention, but a Quechua term meaning “vine of the soul”. It is just one of many names used for the ceremonial medicine across different Indigenous cultures – others include yagé, kamarampi, caapi, oasca and daime. Suggesting that only “hayakwaska” is “correct” erases the diversity of ancestral traditions across the Amazon basin.

The claim that ayahuasca is marketed as a “mystical shortcut” overlooks the reality: real work with this medicine is neither quick nor easy. True healing through ayahuasca involves deep inner effort, often accompanied by discomfort, surrender and courage – whether one is Indigenous or not.

From medically unqualified influencers pushing expensive supplements online, to nurses peddling myths about pregnancy, I had to find out all I could about my condition myself. This is what I’ve learned

I suspected I had polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) long before it was confirmed. The signs were there: the acne scars that littered my back, the irregular periods, the hair in places on my body that I didn’t see on many of my friends. I suspected it from the moment that one of my best friends, who as a girl taught me about bleaching my body hair and waxing my legs, was diagnosed with it as a teenager.

Admitting all this publicly feels like an unburdening, but also an invitation to more shame. But I write this because my experience is far from unique. As many as one in 10 women have PCOS, a condition associated with hormonal disturbances that can range from weight gain, “unwanted” body hair and hair loss, to irregular periods and struggles to conceive children (including an increased risk of miscarriage). It can leave women more likely to develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease. It is not clear what causes PCOS, but it is known to be passed down generational lines and can be influenced by lifestyle.

‘There isn’t a budget for this,’ health secretary says after MPs vote to legalise procedure in England and Wales

Wes Streeting has voiced doubts over whether the NHS can afford to establish an assisted dying service, after MPs passed a bill to legalise the procedure last week.

The health secretary was previously a supporter of assisted dying but switched sides last year, expressing concerns about the ethics of offering such a service before significant improvements could be made to the NHS.

The Maha campaign seeks to warn Americans of the dangers of ultra-processed foods

Federal health officials are seeking to launch a “bold, edgy” public service campaign to warn Americans of the dangers of ultra-processed foods in social media, transit ads, billboards and even text messages.

And they potentially stand to profit off the results.