1/3 This baby loss awareness week, a Nottingham family have organised a beautiful ribbon display to support other bereaved families, raise awareness of baby loss and to create a special place to remember those who have experienced a pregnancy or baby loss.

Today marks the start of Baby Loss Awareness Week 9-15th October. #BLAW is marked across the world. This week, the Review team will once again honour the lives of all the babies who have died.

We’re delighted to share that @dockendenltd.bsky.social  has joined MAMA Academy as an ambassador!  For more than three decades, Donna has been a leading voice for safer maternity care in the UK and beyond.

Goodnight #Nottingham, v busy day at the Review: meetings with: families & ICB; for L&I: we met with reps from NUH & NHSE; NICU visit at NUH; & families & NUH. Tmrw:meeting with CEO of NUH; more family meetings before heading back to offices in #chichester : thank you

Goodnight #Nottingham. We arrived yesterday to a day full of family meetings. Today we have met with families; including the GMC; NMC. Tomorrow we will host more family meetings, meet the ICB, and attend L&l. Here until Thursday, but our office is contactable mon-fri 8am-5pm.

1/2 Thinking of the many parents and families affected by baby/child loss/death on Bereaved Parents Day. 🕊️ I took this video earlier this year on the way to visiting Baby Kernow (Cornwall’s baby). Baby Kernow is unknown, but I always remember & lay flowers - I have done so for

Thinking of all fathers today 💜 Today may feel difficult for many fathers especially those without their babies & children for any reason - but please know that you are not alone. If you are within Review & need extra support today please contact FPSS. Support can be found on the Review website.

Goodnight #Nottingham, thank you for welcoming us. We are grateful to all families that gave up their Saturday to join us & engage in some v important discussions. Thank you to: families, charities & MPs. Tmrw our senior midwives will be holding family meetings b4 heading home.

Today we held a meeting for all involved in the Notts Maternity Review. We were joined by many families, charities, MPs, & local/regional journalists. Thank you to everyone who attended and we hope to see you all again at the next meeting in September. We read & respond to emails 7 days a week.

Before the Review team & I began our journey to #Nottingham for tomorrow’s Family Meeting, we did a pit stop at #Portsmouth to speak to midwifery students about how they can make a difference to safe maternity care. I trained as a midwife at Portsmouth so it is v special to me 💜

A beautiful day today at Baliffscourt Hotel for a very mini half term break with @phoebeockenden.bsky.social Just walking, chatting & chilling in the most beautiful surroundings. So delighted we made this choice: Its only 8 miles from Chichester so not the usual travel that’s a part of my life ❤️ ❤️

Such a privilege to accompany students from Chichester College to meet @jessbrownfullermp.bsky.social @houseofcommons.parliament.uk All the students have additional needs but they more than rose to the challenge: with significant research about Parliament before the visit. Thank you Jess & team ❤️

6:30am Saturday start for the Review team! Setting off to #nottingham for some v important family meetings & conversations today but still found time for my 0500 morning meditation & a quick coffee with V & E to keep us going. ☕️ A short day trip, but back in #Notts w/c 19th May

1/3 Still in awe of attending last night’s commemoration of VE Day in the company of veterans, their families, senior military leadership, and the wonderful team from the historic royal palaces.

Maternity, prevention, mental health and children’s services are the national budgets seeing the biggest cuts after government and NHS England decided to slash ringfenced allocations, HSJ analysis reveals. www.hsj.co.uk/finance-and-...

Honoured to have been invited to Jenni Thomas’ book launch of ‘after a child dies’. I have known Jenni since I was a student midwife & have seen the way she has helped & supported so+ many bereaved families over the years. Thank you for all that you continue to do in supporting bereaved families.

Today I met Katie Russell, mother of Poppy who died avoidably as a result of maternity care in Apr 2021. Poppy’s parents have used some of their grief & anger to develop Poppy’s Promise a step by step communication tool for across the NHS. We met Baroness Merron at DHSC today to discuss next steps ❤️

The end of the Easter hols & back to Chichester College for Miss Phoebes @phoebeockenden.bsky.social - Maximum effort now Miss P until May half term ❤️

Pope Francis, dies aged 88. My thoughts are with everyone in the global Catholic Church following the death of Pope Francis. He continued his life of service right to his last day, meeting 1000s of people on Easter Sunday. Rest in peace Holy Father. You will be missed across faiths & across the 🌎

Brilliant to visit Chelsea Physic Garden today for a wander around & enjoy the beautiful blossom & blooms. Loved it so much I decided to join! Don’t know when I’ll get a chance to visit but it’s a little ‘oasis’ less than 15 mins walk from Victoria train station! Fab cafe too! Lovely soup at lunch

A ‘living wall’ on a high London building just up from Victoria Station. It’s beautiful & so full of flowers.

Spending Easter weekend with my gorgeous girl @phoebeockenden.bsky.social am so enjoying a few days with her in Chichester & London! She’s back to Chichester College on Tues & I’ll be back to to work. Keeping ‘an eye’ on everything in the meantime. Shopping & chatting later in London us two girls ❤️

So: It’s Easter hols from college for @phoebeockenden.bsky.social so away for a few days! Brighton! Miss P has started with a Pimms & lemonade! We have afternoon tea & then just mooching round the fab shops & kind of chatting & chilling. Life so v v busy so we try to just be together 💕 when we can ❤️

Such an honour to have been invited to 🇮🇪 to share ideas with such awesome colleagues. Thank you so much for such a warm welcome #medprof2025

Barriers to effective teamwork: listening to Dr Millie Kehoe: many ++ top down directives, introduced with minimal engagement/discussion, fear of speaking up & out even with patient harm/ power imbalances/ high service demand, work pressure & poor handovers. There are solutions: still so much to do

Hearing from Dr Denis McCauley at #Medprof25 on the challenges facing the med workforce in 🇮🇪 Are 🇮🇪 keeping up? No: catching up? Not really: with an increasingly older & complex population. Focussing on the damage done to patients & staff when resources & capacity do not match population need.

At #MEDPROF25 listening to a brilliant account from Tib Pereira @pfps-ireland.bsky.social explaining the journey towards effective patient representation across Ireland 🇮🇪 Still on the journey towards full empowerment & equal partnership between patients & healthcare staff but progress being made

1/2 From history to modernity: @rcsi-medprof.bsky.social has a span of 200 years ++ in Dublin. An honour to be asked to speak & to be given a tour of the old medical school with such a fab history. Here is the first female FRCSI with a staircase named after her… And barbers poles? Any guesses why?

#MedProf25 Speaker Spotlight- Donna Ockenden is a nurse, and midwife.She has more than 35 years’ experience within a variety of health settings both in the UK and internationally. We look forward to welcoming her to #Dublin for #MedProf25 conference -Teamwork in Healthcare dockendenltd.bsky.social

Just landed in Dublin ahead of tomorrow’s @rcsi-medprof.bsky.social Medical Professionalism Conference. Delighted to have been invited as a keynote speaker to discuss Learning from Independent Inquiries & looking forward to connecting with colleagues #MEDPROF25

@rcsi-medprof.bsky.social Thank you for inviting me to speak! So looking forward to my 1st visit to Dublin & my attendance at such a fantastic event!

The most perfect ❤️ morning in Florence! A long & full day yesterday meeting with some awesome colleagues in perinatal care. And then just 2 hrs free today before my airport transfer back to London! I did a lot of walking! And will v definitely come back! Such splendour on a joyful & sunny morning ☀️

Such a lovely time meeting Caiti O in London: a long awaited Mum & daughter catch up for shopping, chatting & a brilliant evening @ The Vaults in London watching ‘Plied & Prejudice’ (v different from the more traditional version!) Such a great time ❤️

Beautiful picture! And looks like fab coffee too! ❤️

Thank you Patrick: we must catch up! And soon! You are much remembered & celebrated by the lovely family of baby Gina & her 2 sisters you safely delivered. Actually We should all catch up: you are /were such a treasured obstetric colleague over so many years. So very grateful to have known you ❤️

www.instagram.com/reel/DHl7XWt... An absolute honour 💜 Here is a ‘highlight’ from the earliest days of my career, which I can safely say I have never repeated since!

1/3 Absolutely honoured+++ to have had the HUGE privilege to share my life story to music on @BBCRadio4 Desert Island Discs. I was so surprised to be asked to be a part of this programme, that I had to triple check that they had asked the right Donna Ockenden!!!

Out with gorgeous girl @phoebeockenden.bsky.social for dinner 2night. Had such a nice day: out for lunch & a little walk: then she agreed to allow her old mother to go to a couple of garden centres! Essential to keep my tiny backyard (patio if we are being posh!) full of colour& scent all yr round

Very early & I’m walking through St Ives today (to get my car & drive back to Chichester & meet my team!) Last bits of planning for our trip to London/ then Nottingham to meet bereaved/ harmed families. Looking forward to seeing so many of you in the next couple of days ❤️

Delighted to catch up with Team MASIC tonight at the @babylife.bsky.social awards. Thank you Chloe & team, you do such a brilliant job on behalf of so many birth injured women. MASIC truly is a lifeline x

February is #OesophagealCancerAwarenessMonth - here are the most common symptoms of oesophageal cancer 👇 It's important to know what's normal for your body and to get your symptoms checked by your doctor if they won't go away. Share this post to help us raise awareness 🔁

Cancer death rates 60% higher in deprived areas, research by Cancer Research UK shows! This means an extra 28400 deaths a yr from cancer linked to where a person lives. People more likely to experience delay in treatment linked to deprivation. Urgent need to repair public health systems across UK

A week away from work: well I’ll obviously check in as not too good at parting company entirely! But here’s my choice of reading including poetry I’ve not looked at in decades! Making my way through Under Milk Wood now & laughing out loud. It’s so funny & so very South Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Grateful to spend time on a stormy Gunwalloe Cove to honour & remember unknown Baby Kernow. It’s where I go to remember my mum. Long story as to why it’s here! Her orchids on the church window looking splendid despite a definite lack of care! The colours of the Lizard are so rich & varied

Brilliant news about the upcoming Annual Conference in Sept 2025 for the wonderful @Babylifeline conference - hopefully - see you all there! NOT to be missed! x.com/babylifeline...

Grateful to be able to have a walk on the beach very early before work today. The moon was still bright, the beach empty except for some doggy paw prints showing someone had been there even earlier than me. Vitamin Sea - perfect start to a day 😊

1/4 Appalled to read another report about the current state of the NHS. Highlighting the NEED for accelerated progress within maternity so that the service provided to mothers, babies, and families is safe for everyone.

The reality of the homelessness crisis: “one in 160 people were estimated to be homeless in England on a given night this year” www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Annual rent for newly let UK home £3,240 higher than 2021, research finds

‘Medical misogyny’ condemns women to years of gynaecological pain, MPs told