A private maternity industry is taking advantage of anxious mothers facing the biggest change of their lives.

An investigation has exposed a regulatory vacuum in the private maternity sector, where experts with as little as three days of training are making life-and-death decisions.

From doulas fatally ‘interfering’ with labour, to money-hungry high-street scan clinics failing to spot severe abnormalities, the cost of this profit-driven industry is being paid in infant lives and shattered families.

Charlotte Tolley, 36, is a single mum-of-three, one of whom, Lucas, five, requires intense amounts of care. The tot was born with his brain missing – which the private clinic that Charlotte used during her pregnancy didn’t notice.

Currently, anyone with an ultrasound machine can use that title, prompting Charlotte to campaign for change. She is urging other families to not rely on private scans, and for sonography to become a regulated industry.

Charlotte opted for private scans after suffering a miscarriage. At her first NHS appointment, she found herself in the same room where she’d lost her last baby. After discussing options with her midwife, she opted for a private clinic, where they found Lucas to be healthy, even though the abnormality was clearly visible on ultrasound.

Charlotte said: “Everything was quite standard and normal. I specifically asked the sonographer, ‘Can you see anything wrong? Would you be able to see if there’s any abnormalities?’” After he was born, Charlotte knew something was wrong, and the pandemic had begun, so in-person services were becoming less easily accessible.

Lucas struggled to feed, or focus, and suffered from jaundice. After he continued to struggle, Charlotte listened to her “mum gut” and called an ambulance.

She told the Mirror: “Had I not already been a mum of two children, I don’t think Lucas would be here now to be honest with you. He was chronically dehydrated, he was yellow, he had mottled skin, his head was bigger than his body, he looked like an alien where he’d not been able to gain any weight.

“He was constantly in and out of consciousness where he could barely stay awake because he had no energy to him.”

A hospital doctor conducted a cranial ultrasound which sparked panic. Charlotte said: “He dropped the ultrasound machine… and went off. He got on the phone… came back to me and said: ‘Your son has half of his brain missing’.”

Charlotte questioned how could her baby be alive without an entire brain while Lucas was rushed for an urgent MRI which confirmed the news. Charlotte added: “It was so obvious, you know, I’ve never seen an MRI of a brain before in my life, but even I could tell that it wasn’t right.”

Further tests were undertaken on the little boy, only weeks old, including hormone profiling that required bloods to be taken every three hours but his brain didn’t develop. Charlotte said: “He’s completely blind, he’s got cerebral palsy, epilepsy, he can’t chew or eat. I was told at the time, he would never walk, talk, eat, smile, do anything.”

Charlotte met with a solicitor and radiography and ultrasound experts who looked at the scans the private clinic had provided her and confirmed that “undoubtedly you can see there’s a problem.”

“Either he wasn’t qualified enough or he was told not to say anything,” Charlotte said, citing reports by the BBC that indicate some technicians at private clinics were told not to disclose certain information to their clients. She reached an out-of-court settlement with the clinic that was responsible for her failed scans.

If the abnormality had been reported to her, she should have been immediately sent back to the NHS and provided with a pregnancy-safe MRI, giving her the choice of whether to continue with the pregnancy or not.

Charlotte said: “I would definitely have had to terminate the pregnancy because I had two other children, I was a single parent that just left a marriage, and my eldest daughter is autistic as well.”

The progress her son Lucas has made is astounding compared to the “bleak” prognosis he was given as a baby. He walks, uses his cane, and only sometimes uses a wheelchair but still needs intense round-the-clock care.

Charlotte said: “I sometimes almost wish that I could outlive my own son because I’m worried for the future that he will have if he’s left on his own without any support. I do everything for him, and I always will have to even as he gets older, and no parent should ever have to feel like that.”

Charlotte feels strongly about some of these clinics that are cropping up across the UK. She said: “I think these other clinics should be avoided altogether. [Some] are money hungry vultures… they don’t care about the people walking through their doors… they just want to build a franchise, build a name and earn money and that’s it.”

Charlotte wants to make sonography a regulated profession and has started a petition to try and enforce greater transparency in this area.

Amy Heath, Medical Negligence Partner at the law firm, Stewarts who acted for Charlotte warns that her client’s “example is an extreme one, but it’s a good one to show how wrong it can go.” Amy explains that the NHS – for the most part – “mops up” the errors of these private clinics which are “money making enterprises”.

And it’s not just babies at risk, but mothers, too. Ectopic pregnancies occur when a fertilised egg implants outside the uterus, most commonly in a fallopian tube, making it a life-threatening, non-viable pregnancy.

Experts have also warned about the use of unregulated birthing assistants. In January, a coroner warned that more babies could die without greater clarity and guidance over the role of home birthing assistants, after the death of a 15-day-old baby girl.

Newborn Matilda Pomfret-Thomas died of a brain injury in November 2023, which was caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain either before or during birth. Her mother had experienced a difficult home labour and was not immediately transferred to hospital – despite signs of foetal distress, an inquest concluded.

Hampshire assistant coroner Henry Charles noted that midwives from Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra hospital felt their access “was being restricted by the doula” when the child’s mother went into labour on 29 October 2023.

A midwife who attended the home birth first offered a transfer to hospital at 7.19am when meconium – a sign of foetal stress – was discovered, the coroner said. The offer was turned down, and again at 10am despite “deteriorating” labour as it was “not communicated [to the family] in such a way as to lead to a transfer to hospital”.

Charles said: “The presence and work of a doula did on this occasion negatively impact upon the effective provision of midwifery services in terms of building a rapport conducive to effective advice and care being given.

“I found that [the doula] did not actively discourage midwife access but that she was seen as, in effect, a buffer by members of the midwifery team. The doula was following the birth plan. The doula was supporting the parents per the birth plan, and this appears to have been perceived as grounds for hope that a home birth was still possible.” The coroner has called for a review and regulation on doulas and the training they receive.

In 2023, The Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI) warned that doulas were involved in 29 of the 2,827 maternity investigations it had completed. It said it “found evidence in 12 of the 29 investigations that doulas worked outside of the defined boundaries of their role. The care or advice provided by the doula was considered to have potentially had an influence on the poor outcome for the baby”.

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Doula UK pushed back on the idea of regulating the profession to the Mirror, saying in part: “Doula UK members undertake approved training, mentored practice and ongoing professional development, guided by a shared code of conduct. We would therefore recommend parents find a Doula UK registered member.”

Women searching for extra support during one of the most challenging periods of their lives goes beyond pregnancy and labour itself, with unregulated and unqualified “night nurses” also posing a major risk to infants.

An inquest last week heard that a four-month-old baby, the grandson of football manager Steve Bruce, tragically died after being placed in an “unsafe sleeping position” by an unregulated maternity nurse. The parents of Madison Bruce Smith had employed Eva Clements via Ruthie Maternity Services believing she was fully trained, skilled and vetted, and that the firm was well established. In fact, neither was regulated Stockport Coroner’s Court heard.

The inquest was told that Madison’s parents would “never have dreamed” of putting their son asleep in the prone position had it not been for the advice of the maternity nurse, who was said to have informed them all four of her own babies had slept on their stomachs with no problems. Such advice is contrary to recognised safe sleeping guidance from the NHS and health professionals for young babies.

It has since been confirmed that Ruth Asare, head of Ruthie Maternity Services, had no medical qualifications and had only a first aid certificate and a Level 2 diploma in post-natal care, which she gained from a three-day course and a six-month coursework project. Clements said she had a degree in early years education but admitted she also had no medical qualifications.

The case led the senior coroner for south Manchester, Alison Mutch, to issue a prevention of future deaths report to the Secretary of State for Health calling for regulation.

An NCT spokesperson told the Mirror: “Understanding what makes a place safe to sleep is key. The safest place for a baby to sleep is in the same room as their caregiver. This should be for at least the first six months, both day and night. A separate sleep space is considered safest, with the baby on their back on a firm, flat and clear surface.

“Sleeping on their side or front increases the risk of SIDS, so put the baby on their back to sleep as a routine from day one. Once they can move themselves from their back to their front and back again by themselves, there is no need to worry but you can carry on placing them on their back to sleep when putting them in their sleeping space.”

Kate Marsh, midwifery manager for Tommy’s, the pregnancy and baby charity, told the Mirror: “Our hearts go out to the families of Madison and Matilda, whose lives have been devastated by their loss.”

Not every mum who spoke to the Mirror had negative impressions of the private maternity industry but almost all described a sense of anxiety, and a lack of support as their motivation for seeking out these supplementary services.

Nutritionist therapist Hanieh Vidmar opted for private care, citing long waiting times within the NHS, and concerns about overstretched resources

She said: “I think there needs to be more support and education for first time mums when giving birth. They opt in for things like doulas and night nurses thinking they absolutely need one and when they don’t know what they are looking for, and should look for, [it] can cause serious issues. I think that’s the issue.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Every parent deserves safe, high-quality maternity care. That is why we are changing the law so that anyone who falsely uses the title of nurse without being properly registered will be committing a criminal offence.

“We’re taking urgent action to rebuild confidence in NHS maternity services – hiring more midwives, introducing new standards to tackle the leading causes of maternal mortality, launching an anti-discrimination programme, and creating systems to identify safety concerns earlier.

“The Secretary of State is also personally chairing a new Taskforce to deliver rapid improvements in maternity and neonatal services, acting on the recommendations from Baroness Amos’ independent national investigation.”

For support after baby loss, please contact Sands’ national helpline on 0808 164 3332 or email helpline@sands.org.uk

Sign Charlotte’s petition to make sonography a regulated profession in the UK here.

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NASA’s Artemis 2 mission has finally launched and TV star Jeremy Clarkson has shared a string of hilarious posts about the first Moon mission in more than five decades

Jeremy Clarkson fans have been left in stitches after the TV personality shared a string of hilarious posts about NASA’s Artemis 2 mission last night.

NASA’s Artemis 2 mission has finally launched marking humanity’s first lunar voyage in 53 years. NASA reported an issue with the flight termination system but clarified just over an hour before the launch that it has been resolved. The four astronauts are inside the Orion capsule on humanity’s first Moon mission in more than five decades.

The Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft will carry the four astronauts from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, into deep space. The crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

READ MORE: Seventh British tourist dies after falling ill on £6k Cape Verde holidayREAD MORE: Girl, 3, ‘almost killed’ after being sucked into pool drain on family holiday

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The Clarkson’s Farm star took to Instagram to share two hilarious posts about the launch. Captioning the first post “Thought we’d seen the rocket launch. Now think it may be Venus.” One fan commented: “Or your camera has a hot dead pixel.” Another wrote: “It’s Santa checking everyone’s behaving.” A third wrote: “Just here for the Uranus jokes.”

Minutes later he posted again with the caption: “We’ve seen another rocket” as fans commented: “Jeremy do you have your glasses on??” another wrote: “Are you drunk Clarkson?”

The four astronauts will circle the Earth for about 25 hours before catapulting toward the moon. The Artemis mission will end with a splashdown homecoming into the Pacific. Navy recovery ships will be stationed off the coast of San Diego as Orion parachutes into the ocean.

Ahead of the Artemis 2 launch, Donald Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social: “We are WINNING, in Space, on Earth, and everywhere in between — Economically, Militarily, and now, BEYOND THE STARS. Nobody comes close!” He added: “God bless our incredible Astronauts, God bless NASA, and God bless the Greatest Nation ever to exist, the United States of America!”

You can watch the launch live here.

Follow our live blog for the latest updates on the launch by clicking here.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said that the quake, which has since been downgraded to a magnitude of 7.6, struck at 6.48am local time at a depth of 35km

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A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake has struck Indonesia, triggering a tsunami warning.

The tremor hit the Northern Molucca Sea on Thursday (2 April), according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), with a US monitoring centre issuing an alert cautioning of potential “hazardous tsunami waves” within 1,000km of the quake’s epicentre.

The earthquake, which has since been downgraded to a magnitude of 7.6, struck at 6.48am local time at a depth of 35km. Its epicentre was 127 kilometres (79 miles) west-northwest of Ternate, in the archipelago’s North Maluku province, which has a population of over 205,000, according to USGS.

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The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center confirmed that hazardous tsunami waves were possible “within 1,000km of the epicentre” along the coastlines of Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. USGS also cautioned that tsunami waves reaching between 0.3 metres and one metre (3.2ft) above tide level were possible along parts of the Indonesian coastline, reports the Mirror.

In additional guidance, the US tsunami warning system predicted waves of less than 30 centimetres above tide level for the coastlines of Guam, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Japan’s meteorological agency also noted that “slight sea level changes” may be observed along the nation’s coastline, though no tsunami damage was anticipated.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology confirmed there was no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, nor to its islands or territories.

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of islands home to more than 280 million people, sits atop major seismic fault lines and is frequently struck by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Ring of Fire, a 40,000-kilometre (25,000-mile) horseshoe-shaped belt encircling the Pacific Ocean. The Ring of Fire accounts for 75% of the world’s volcanoes and 90% of its earthquakes.

In 2022, a shallow 5.6-magnitude tremor claimed the lives of more than 600 people in West Java’s Cianjur city, making it the deadliest earthquake in Indonesia since a 2018 quake and tsunami in Sulawesi killed more than 4,300 people.

In 2004, a devastating Indian Ocean earthquake triggered a Boxing Day tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people across a dozen countries, with the vast majority of victims in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

As Artemis II blasted off on its historic mission to the Moon, BBC Science Editor Rebecca Morelle was watching from just three miles away.

‘That is spectacular!’, she said, noting that you ‘can actually feel the force’ of the launch physically.

The rocket, the most powerful ever built by Nasa, is carrying the first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years.

Follow along with the BBC’s live coverage of the launch here.

The charity is calling on people across Northern Ireland to support its message, ‘Be Kind to Different Minds’

A Co Antrim schoolgirl has spoken out on World Autism Day, saying she is proud to be autistic and that it’s not something that needs to be ‘fixed’.

Emily McCreedy, aged 11, from Belfast, said she doesn’t see her autism as a limitation but rather something that makes her unique.

She said: “To me, being autistic means I experience the world differently, and that’s something to be proud of. Not everyone has to be the same, and those differences should be valued.

READ MORE: Inside Northern Ireland’s first sensory-friendly hair salon championing inclusive community servicesREAD MORE: Co Down playgroup a lifeline for parents navigating developmental delay with children

“Since my diagnosis, I’ve received more support at school and through Autism NI, which has made a big difference to my life.

Emily added: “Autism isn’t something that needs to be fixed, it’s part of who I am. I’m creative and kind, and with the right support, I feel safe, accepted, and proud to be autistic.”

Autism NI is marking World Autism Day by urging people right across Northern Ireland to back its campaign message, ‘Be Kind to Different Minds’. With over 35,000 autistic individuals living in Northern Ireland, the organisation is encouraging everyone to acknowledge, celebrate and demonstrate genuine support for the autistic community.

Kerry Boyd, CEO of Autism NI, adds: “This World Autism Day, we are asking the public to get behind our message, ‘Be Kind to Different Minds’. We want to build a greater understanding of autism, promote acceptance, and create a more inclusive society, but we cannot do this alone.

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“Autistic people may face challenges, many of which are not visible to others. This reinforces the message that autism is a dynamic disability, and everyone’s experience is different.

“Through this campaign, we want to encourage people to deepen their understanding of autism and recognise how this can lead to meaningful changes in empathy, respect and inclusion.

“Whether at home, in school, or throughout April, Autism NI will be delivering a variety of activities and campaigns, offering chances for individuals to participate and demonstrate their support.

“Autism NI delivers essential services for autistic individuals and their families right across Northern Ireland and continues to advocate for improved understanding and acceptance of autism within society.”

To discover more about how to participate, visit https://autismni.org/get-involved/world-autism-month

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter.

New rules under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax come into force from April 6, requiring many self-employed workers and landlords to keep digital records and submit updates to HMRC throughout the year.

But research suggests a large number are unprepared and increasingly anxious.

A study by FreeAgent found:

• Less than half feel confident they will be ready
• Only 39 percent say they fully understand the rules
• One in five do not know what is required
• More than one in ten have lost sleep over the changes

The reforms will initially affect more than 850,000 sole traders and landlords earning over £50,000, with millions more set to follow in the coming years.

Concerns go beyond understanding the rules, with many worried about the consequences of getting it wrong.

• 47 percent fear being fined or penalised
• 17 percent admit avoiding letters or emails about the changes
• Nearly half say they feel confused or anxious about the system

Some are even reconsidering their future:

• 23 percent are thinking about leaving self-employment
• 28 percent say they may take on less work

According to Oliver Harcourt from Taxfix, the scale of confusion is a major concern.

He said hundreds of thousands are heading into the changes without a clear understanding, adding that the reforms risk making tax feel like a second job for many.

Dominic Littlewood has teamed up with accountancy software company, Free Agent to help small businesses and landlords prepare for Making Tax Digital, as new data shows one in seven have considered retiring ahead of the April roll out. (Image: Free Agent)

What the new tax rules actually mean

Despite widespread confusion, the changes are about how tax is reported, not how much is paid.

Key points include:

• You will still need to submit an annual tax return
• Quarterly updates are summaries, not full tax returns
• The rules do not mean you will pay more tax
• Digital record keeping and approved software will be required

However, fewer than four in ten correctly understand the need for digital records, and only a third know they must use HMRC-recognised software.

Dominic Littlewood, working with FreeAgent, said the scale of the change explains why so many are worried.

He described Making Tax Digital as the biggest shake-up to tax submissions in two decades but stressed it does not have to be overwhelming.

He said many sole traders are asking the same questions about bookkeeping and potential fines, and need clear, simple guidance to stay compliant.

The rollout begins next week for higher earners but will expand:

• Over £50,000 income from April 2026
• Over £30,000 from April 2027
• Over £20,000 from April 2028

In total, around 2.9 million people are expected to be affected.

Experts warn that without better awareness and preparation, confusion could lead to mistakes, penalties and added pressure on small businesses already dealing with rising costs.

On Wednesday night, the BBC reported that pre-launch testing revealed a fault in the rocket’s flight termination system

The Artemis II mission had reportedly encountered an issue that could delay its scheduled launch.

On Wednesday night, the BBC reported that pre-launch testing revealed a fault in the rocket’s flight termination system. This system is critical for safety, designed to destroy the rocket mid-flight if it veers off course, ensuring it does not pose a danger to people on the ground.

Derrol Nail, a NASA commentator in the launch control room, explained that the termination system must be fully operational before launch. If any part of the rocket goes wrong during ascent, the launch abort system will lift the Orion capsule and its astronauts to safety, while the flight termination system would destroy the rocket to prevent it from entering populated areas.

Ground controllers are currently facing a communication issue with the system, which has prevented them from fully testing the hardware ahead of launch. Engineers are attempting to resolve the problem using equipment originally designed to communicate with the Space Shuttle.

However, NASA engineers confirmed that the fault had since been fixed and ‘all systems are now go’.

The launch could take place tonight starting in a two hour window from 11.24pm GMT, at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Mason, 12, and Casper, eight, have been missing for the majority of the night and police say concern is growing.

A pair of brothers have gone missing from a Scots town this evening, with one without vital medication. Mason, 12, and Casper, eight, were last seen between 6pm and 6.20pm in Springbank, Meethill in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.

It is not known where they headed or why they left without speaking to their family. Mason takes daily medication which he doesn’t appear to have with him.

Police Scotland have issued an urgent appeal to get to the bottom of their whereabouts. Mason is white, 4ft 10 in height, and is of a slim build and has blond hair. He’s wearing a coat that is blue on top and has a white and grey camouflage pattern on the bottom.

Casper is also White. He is approximately 4ft and of a slim build. He’s wearing a black Nike coat, grey tracksuit bottoms, and black shoes.

Cops say concern for the brothers is growing, particularly for Mason as he doesn’t have access to his medication. The force has been checking with local transport firms and loves ones but no one has seen or heard from them.

Anyone with any information on where they are is being asked to come forward.

Inspector Stuart Hillman said: “Obviously the worry is for Mason, to make sure he is able to access his medication. Casper is very young, they both are, so we want to find them to make sure all is well and that they are safe.

“If you have seen them at all this evening, or have any information that will assist our enquiries, then please call police via 101 quoting incident number 2776 of Wednesday, 1 April 2026.

“We have been checking with local bus and travel companies, friends and family, and indeed in the area they live, but so far no one has seen or heard from them.”

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