Trainee midwives win maternity pay
Three trainee midwives have won a landmark sex discrimination case establishing rights to maternity pay for thousands of women studying to join the NHS professions.
No room for a bed
Sarah Smith: There isn't the space in special care units to cope with Britain's high premature birth rate.
Fears for health of new mothers
Women are being sent home from maternity hospitals too quickly, with many leaving just six hours after giving birth.
Five steps to improve care
Leader: Today The Observer launches its Better Birth Campaign, our drive to give mothers a better experience of one of the most life-changing events. We hope the government and the hospitals concerned will listen.
Hospital rumbles undercover BBC reporter
12.15pm: The BBC was today accused of wasting NHS time after a Panorama reporter was discovered working undercover in a Suffolk hospital. By John Plunkett.
Hewitt’s £3bn deal to double use of private sector in NHS angers union
NHS to more than double its use of private sector to operate on patients on waiting lists in England.
Emergency on the wards
The Royal College of Nursing this week sounded alarm bells over growing staff shortages in Britain's hospitals. So how are our nurses getting by - and how is it affecting patients? Lucy Atkins finds out.