Louise & Sam Thompson invited to Parliament after emotional Hits Radio birth trauma conversation
Sam & Louise were welcomed in the Palace of Westminster after their conversation about Louise's birth trauma experience sparked a massive reaction
Last updated 17th Jul 2025
Sam Thompson and his sister Louise have been speaking with MPs about the devastating impact of birth trauma, after their Hits Radio Special sparked a national conversation on the issue.
Hits Radio Talk... Birth Trauma saw Sam's sister Louise tell the story of giving birth to son Leo, and the complications that followed that almost cost her her life.
The moving programme also heard from other mums who'd experienced trauma, and gave advice about where support could be found.
Back in 2019, Louise had to undergo an emergency operation, and her new son was delivered by emergency caesarean. To compound the situation he also stopped breathing for a short time and two separate haemorrhages saw Louise lose 'litres' of blood.
Further health complications later meant Louise have her colon removed, and a stoma fitted, details of which she sets out in her book "Lucky".
Sam and Louise Thompson discuss birth trauma in Westminster
Six months on from the broadcast, Louise and Sam appeared before the All Party Parliamentary Group on Birth Trauma during Birth Trauma Awareness week to give MPs an insight into their lived experience, and try to find ways to stop it happening to other women.
Sam told us: "When you're sat in that room, with so much history it was really powerful. I'm so proud of Louise because she has so much fire in her belly about making change.
"When you see someone so passionate about a subject that means so much and has altered her life so much, it was a proud moment for me as a brother."
Louise Thompson shares birth trauma story with MPs
Hits Radio was given exclusive access to the session, chaired by Rosie Duffield MP, alongside other MPs and APPG members who had personal experience of birth trauma, or represented constituents who had.
Speaking after the event, Louise told us: "It's really important to encourage these conversations so that people feel seen, feel heard, and people can start to understand the struggles that they go through.
"I'm very grateful to be here, to sit with so many influential people that really care about maternity care in this country.
"I also feel the responsibility to be a mouthpiece for those people who message me daily about their birth trauma experience, and for me to be able to vocalise that and pass it on to people who can make change feels very powerful.
"What's important is that people come together, to ask what are the actionable things that can change in the future that will have the most impact, and that's what we're trying to fine-tune by being here.
"This whole things means so much to me, and to speak in front of such esteemed people it just goes to show how much I want this for everybody."
Hits Radio sparks a national conversation on birth trauma
Rosie Duffield MP, who chaired the session in the Palace of Westminster told us the profile of Louise and Sam, and the power of the Hits Radio coverage allows her to hear voices that would otherwise might stay silent: "Louise received tens of thousands of comments, and it's so powerful and important to hear those voices, with no filter and they're just saying 'help, we went through this', and you can't replicate that as an MP.
"To have them both together, talking about it, helps me work on my birth trauma plan (to inform future government action on the issue). I'm really grateful that they took the time to come here and talk about an issue that can be really difficult to talk about."
Finding out more about birth trauma
Each case of Birth Trauma can be very different. Some reflect very long or very short labours, others are about physical issues, while some are to do with thoughts and emotions.
Some birth trauma can be about concerns for baby's health, while others are about issues with the level of care on offer to mums at the time.
Around one in 20 new mums will develop PTSD as a result of their experience, and around 1% of birth partners also develop issues as a result of what they've witnessed from a bedside.
There are links to support services and you can listen again to the Special on our Hits Radio Talk... Birth Trauma page.