On 7th June 2026, my world changed forever. My son, Jude, was stillborn at full term.

In the weeks leading up to his death, I repeatedly sought medical help, I attended maternity triage more than once. I was assessed and reassured following individual tests, yet my symptoms and concerns continued. When I arrived at hospital in labour, Jude’s heartbeat could no longer be found. His death remains medically unexplained. Following investigations into his death, I was told that the care I received fell within existing clinical guidelines.

But this raises a question that I cannot stop asking:

If a mother repeatedly seeks help with ongoing concerns, shouldn’t the pattern itself trigger further investigation, even when individual tests appear reassuring?

This is why I am campaigning for The Jude Standard. 
The Jude Standard would introduce a clear national requirement for maternity services to recognise repeated attendances and unresolved concerns as potential reasons for escalation.

I am calling for four specific changes:

• Mandatory senior obstetric review: Repeated maternity triage attendances for the same or worsening unresolved concerns should trigger a timely senior medical review.
• Cumulative risk assessment: Clinicians must consider previous attendances, symptoms, telephone calls and the mother’s own account together, rather than assessing each presentation in isolation.
• Clear accountability: Decisions to discharge women following repeated attendances must include a documented assessment of cumulative risk and appropriate safety-netting.
• National implementation: NHS maternity services should adopt consistent escalation requirements, with monitoring to ensure they are followed.
  
  This is not about suggesting that every complication can be prevented or that every reassuring test is wrong.

It is about recognising that a series of reassuring assessments does not automatically resolve a mother’s continuing concerns.

I cannot say whether different care would have changed Jude’s outcome. But I believe his story highlights an important opportunity to strengthen maternity safety. No mother should feel that she has to keep returning, pleading for someone to look at the bigger picture.

I am asking the Government and NHS England to incorporate The Jude Standard into national maternity safety requirements.

Jude never got the chance to live his life. I want his name to be associated with meaningful improvements in maternity care, so that other families may be spared the heartbreak we live with every day.

Please sign this petition to support The Jude Standard.

For Jude. For every baby. For every mother who deserves to be heard.