Marie Tidball MP appointed to national Maternity Taskforce Expert Group

Marie Tidball, Member of Parliament for Penistone and Stocksbridge, has been appointed to the national Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce Parliamentary and Mayoral Group, to champion the voices and experiences of disabled women.

The Government has announced the members of the national Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, which has been set up to tackle deep-rooted inequalities in maternity care and deliver an urgent action plan based on the recommendations of the independent National Investigation into Maternity and Neonatal Services in England, led by Baroness Amos.

The Government has also established eight Expert Reference Groups to inform and advise on the Taskforce’s work, including the development of the national maternity care action plan. Crucially, these Expert Reference Groups include the voices of families and those with lived experience.

The Parliamentary and Mayoral Group, is one of these eight groups, to which Marie Tidball MP has been appointed. She has been appointed as a result of her work to set up the MaternAble campaign, which fights for safe, high-quality, inclusive maternity care for disabled women. The Government has also established a Health Equity Expert Reference Group, who will be highlighting the experiences of inequalities for disabled women too.

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Missing Billion Initiative published a landmark report in March 2025 which found that disabled women are 44% more likely to have a stillbirth than non-disabled woman. Since becoming elected as an MP in 2024, Marie has raised her own experience of maternity care as a disabled woman, in Parliament, advocating for every disabled woman to be treated with dignity and respect.

The Government have established the Taskforce on top of taking significant action to improve maternity care including: ordering the rapid national investigation into NHS maternity services; investing over £149 million to address critical safety risks in maternity infrastructure; increased maternal mental health services; and launched an anti-discrimination package which establishes new standards to tackle leading causes of maternal mortality.

__Marie Tidball MP said: __

“As a disabled mother, I faced devastating barriers at every stage of my maternity care. I’ve met so many other disabled women across the country who’ve faced the same inequalities in access, experience and outcomes during their maternity care. Women, babies and families across our country deserve better.

“It’s a privilege to be appointed to the Parliamentary and Mayoral Expert Group, and I will be using this role to champion the voices and experiences of disabled women directly with the Department of Health. Our MaternAble campaign has already given evidence directly to the Independent Investigation led by Baroness Amos, ensuring that our experiences are at the heart of improvements to NHS maternity care.

“I'm proud that the Government has committed to ensuring that everyone receives safe, personalised and compassionate care, and are dedicated to creating the change in our maternity care that is so urgently needed.”