Leeds Maternity Review, Forgetting birthdays, the term ‘rough wooing’, Ashley Dalton MP, Maimuna Memon

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.1 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The health secretary Wes Streeting has appointed senior midwife Donna Ockenden to lead a review into maternity and neonatal services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. The appointment came after a sustained campaign by bereaved and harmed families who said that she was the only one they trusted to lead the review into failings in Leeds. Donna Ockenden joined Nuala McGovern to discuss her new appointment as well as her ongoing review into Nottingham university hospitals.

How would you feel if everyone in your household forgot your birthday? After a woman's social media post saying her family had forgotten hers went viral, Anita talked to the author Poorna Bell and the journalist Nell Frizzell about whether forgetting a spouse's birthday is simply a careless moment or the sign of something deeper.

Dr Amy Blakeway, Senior Lecturer in 16th Century Scottish History at the University of St Andrews, talked to Nuala about the history of the term 'rough wooing', and why she thinks it’s time we stopped using it.

Ashley Dalton, the MP for West Lancashire, announced last week that she was stepping down from her role as Health Minister to focus on constituency work and her health. Last year she revealed that her breast cancer had returned, and metastasised. This means living with advanced breast cancer everyday – it can’t be cured, but it can be managed. She joined Nuala to discuss her decision.

Maimuna Memon is an actress, singer, composer, and playwright. Last year, she won a Laurence Olivier Award for her performance in the musical Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 at the Donmar in London. Maimuna talks to Anita about the real-life stories behind her latest show Manic Street Creature.

Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Annette Wells

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts.
0:05.6	Oh, hello. You have chosen a BBC podcast, but before you listen to it, we thought you might like our podcast too.
0:12.1	You might. You might. It is called Sightraught with me, Nick Grimshaw.
0:15.2	And me, Annie Mack. And we talk about the week in music.
0:18.2	All the news, all the cultural happenings in the UK and beyond.
0:22.2	And great guests.
0:23.3	And it's on BBC Sounds.
0:24.7	Yes, where you can also enjoy lots of playlists, music mixes and live radio.
0:29.9	Everything from my six music breakfast show to Radio 3 Unwind.
0:34.5	But obviously start with our podcast, sidetrack.
0:36.3	Obviously.
0:36.7	Obviously.
0:38.2	So if you like music, listen on BBC Sounds.
0:40.3	Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4.
0:45.0	Just to say that for rights reasons, the music in the original radio broadcast has been removed
0:50.1	for this podcast.
0:51.8	Hello and welcome to the programme.
0:54.0	Coming up, Senior midwife Donna Ockenden,
0:56.9	who was announced this week as leading an independent inquiry into maternity failures
1:01.3	at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
1:04.7	The MP Ashley Dalton, who's resigned as health minister as she continues to live with advanced breast cancer.
1:18.6	Also, is it time to change or stop using the phrase rough wooing to describe the Anglo-S Scottish Wars of the 1540s? My guest, the historian Amy Blakeway, thinks so. We'll hear why.
	...

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