International Women's Day 2025 Panel Discussion: Women's Birth Choices - Who Decides?

As more women delay childbearing and the complexity of pregnancies rises, we face a troubling paradox. While MBRRACE reports continue to reveal high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity rates, national guidelines often prioritize higher intervention rates to mitigate poor outcomes. Meanwhile, calls for personalized care plans grow louder, but the NHS’s limited resources make true personalization a challenge.

Recent reports on Birth Trauma shed light on the often-overlooked emotional toll of such interventions, leading many women to lose trust in maternity care services and explore alternatives, such as free birthing.

This panel discussion in honour of International Women's Day 2025 with Arezou Rezvani (Consultant Midwife at UCLH), Dr Jo Modder (Consultant Obstetrician at UCLH), Ana Esquerdo (Consultant Midwife at UCLH) and Komal Khuti-Dulaart (Chair of Maternity and Neonatal Voice Partnership at UCLH) will explore the complex interplay between medical necessity, women’s autonomy, and systemic constraints, asking the critical question: When it comes to birth choices, who really decides?  

This is an in-person event and pre-booking is essential. The event will take place at The Theobald Lecture Theatre, 86-96 Chenies Mews, London, WC1E 6HX.

The event will begin promptly at 1.00pm.