.jpeg?trim=274,0,1862,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800 "Campaigners warn of ‘dangerous gaps’ in NHS care for life-threatening childbirth condition – UK Times")
Campaigners are warning of “dangerous gaps” in NHS care for a life-threatening childbirth condition, as a survivor has opened up about fearing she was “going to die”.
The ‘Action for Accreta’ campaign warns that the UK is falling behind other countries in identifying and preparing for Placenta Accreta Spectrum (PAS), a pregnancy complication that can cause catastrophic haemorrhaging, which is linked to rising c-section and IVF rates.
Mother-of-two Amisha Adhia said that five hospitals failed to diagnose she had the condition, which has inspired her to launch a campaign to protect others.
More than 40 families have now come forward with similar experiences, according to Ms Adhia, as leading charities and parliamentarians back the campaign to highlight threats posed by outdated NHS guidance.
The 36-year-old, from Ilford, told The Independent: “We weren’t heard, we were dismissed, constantly reassured into danger, you find you’re facing a lot of closed doors with nowhere to turn…
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“I said I feel like I’m going to die, I don’t know if I’m going to come home once I give birth, I don’t know if my son will have a mother to see the day after delivery.
“I actually thought I’m going to write a letter to my husband and son just in case the worst-case scenario happens. Then I ripped it up – because sealing the letter was a way of admitting defeat.”
Ms Adhia says she and her husband Nik, 37, were repeatedly told by multiple NHS trusts and specialist centres that there was a “99 per cent chance” she did not have the condition during her second pregnancy.
The mother credits her and her daughter Ishaani’s survival to the intervention of one consultant obstetrician, Dr Chineze Otigbah, who established that Ms Adhia in fact had a severe form of the condition, and so the mother and her newborn fortunately received the appropriate care when she gave birth in September 2025.
Dr Otigbah said: “I am deeply concerned that women are falling through the gaps in our current system. The main risk factors for PAS are C-sections and IVF, which has massively risen. The NHS has not kept up to date with this reality. PAS is missed because it’s difficult to detect and has received very little clinical attention in the UK.”
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Within weeks of giving birth, Ms Adhia began connecting with other women, and now she says more than 40 families from around the world have come forward with similar accounts of late-detected or undiagnosed cases.
PAS occurs when the placenta grows too deeply into the wall of the womb during pregnancy. When doctors attempt to remove the placenta after birth, a woman can haemorrhage within minutes. Undiagnosed cases can quickly lead to an emergency hysterectomy or death. The risk is particularly high for mothers who are giving birth a second time after having had a c-section the first time.
With c-section births now outnumbering vaginal births in England for the first time, experts warn that more and more UK women are at elevated risk of what used to be a rare condition. Research from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), last month found that around 14,000 pregnancies are now affected by PAS each year.
‘Action for Accreta’ warns that the NHS underestimates these numbers, and that the guidelines on the condition are outdated – with atypical presentations of PAS, as Ms Adhia had, not sufficiently accounted for.
Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat shadow health secretary, warned that this is a “very, very serious problem” as she called for improved training and for mothers’ concerns to be listened to.
Lord Hunt, former health minister and president of the Royal Society of Public Health, said Ms Adhia’s experience “should raise serious concerns” as he called for health secretary Wes Streeting to develop a national strategy for the detection and treatment of PAS and to require reporting of the condition.
Leading pregnancy and baby loss charities Tommy’s and Sands, who are among the eight maternal health charities and patient safety groups so far backing the campaign, said: “Improving the identification, understanding and prevention of serious pregnancy complications depends on better data, stronger research, and listening to families’ experiences. Action for Accreta is helping to highlight important gaps in awareness, surveillance and learning. As the Sands and Tommy’s Joint Policy Unit, we support efforts that bring together evidence and lived experience to inform policy and improve maternity safety.”
The campaign launches at a time of heightened scrutiny of UK maternity services. Baroness Amos’ national investigation remains underway, and updated Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) guidance is expected in the coming month.
Action for Accreta is demanding urgent reform, including calls for the problem to be tracked, for guidance and training to be updated, and for every maternity unit to be prepared.
Donald Peebles, national clinical director for maternity at NHS England, highlighted the importance of identifying women at higher risk of PAS early in pregnancy.
He said: “Maternity teams are trained to look for the warning signs, with women who’ve previously had a caesarean among those most at risk, and where necessary, patients are referred to specialist NHS centres with expert teams and critical care services.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are committed to listening to the voices of women and families to help shape safer maternity care.
“That’s why we’ve launched a National Maternity Investigation, chaired by Baroness Amos, to drive urgent improvements to care and safety. Once its recommendations are published, the Secretary of State will lead the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce to urgently act on them.
“We’re also investing over £149 million to make maternity units safer, rolling out programmes to reduce avoidable brain injury, and piloting Martha’s Rule in maternity services – giving families the right to request an urgent second opinion if they have concerns.”
