Honorary Graduates 2024: Donna Ockenden
Donna Ockenden, a tireless campaigner for maternity safety, and a senior midwife and nurse of more than 35 years, has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Chichester.
She brought as her guests, the mum and sisters of a baby called Gina, who was transferred into her care for the last hours of her life when she was a newly-qualified midwife more than 30 years ago.
Donna said: “I made a promise, to baby Gina, that I would dedicate my life to making maternity care safer. Today, Gina’s mum and sisters joined me to watch me accept my honorary degree.”
She is best known for chairing the Ockenden Review into maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which uncovered serious shortcomings by the trust after the death or brain damage of large numbers of babies, and in some cases their mothers.
Donna has since been appointed by the Secretary of State as the Chair of the Independent Review into Maternity Services at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which is expected to publish in September 2025.
Through her campaign work, Donna wants to ensure the best and safest outcomes for mothers and their babies, and is an ambassador for baby loss charity Sands, President of Baby Lifeline, which works to make medical care for pregnant women and babies safer, and a patron of Masic UK, which supports women with injuries from childbirth.
In Chichester, she founded The Four Streets Project, along with her daughters, after they started providing food every evening to people sleeping on the streets.
Donna is a compassionate crusader for those in need and her work, in every area, is a testimony to her willingness to be alongside those who do not have a voice in society.
On receiving the Honorary Degree, Donna said: “It is a huge privilege to have been awarded this Honorary Doctor of Science, I would like to thank the university for this. I see it as recognition of a journey in the provision of safer maternity care that I have walked on since I was a student midwife. I am a long-time resident of Chichester so to be recognised by my local university in this way is a privilege and I am delighted to accept the award.”
