Main content

Donna Ockenden, midwife

Donna Ockenden, midwife, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item she would take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Donna Ockenden is a former clinical midwife who led the Ockenden Review which revealed, at the time, the biggest maternity scandal in NHS history. Published in 2022, the review highlighted serious failings in maternity care at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust which contributed to the deaths of more than 200 babies and nine mothers.

Donna grew up in the village of Aberaman in the Welsh Valleys. She experienced a complicated childhood which included a period living in a homeless shelter along with her mother and four siblings. She is also a survivor of sexual abuse and believes her background helped her develop a tenacity and determination which she went on to apply to her work.

She completed her nursing training in Swansea and Neath and trained as a midwife at the Portsmouth School of Midwifery. In 2015 she became Senior Midwifery Adviser to the Chief Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

In May 2022 she was appointed chair of the independent review into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust which will be published next year. It is already the largest investigation into a single service in the NHS, hearing evidence from over 2,000 families so far.

Donna lives in Chichester with her two cats.

Details of organisations offering information and support with child sexual abuse or child bereavement are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

DISC ONE: We’ve Only Just Begun - The Carpenters
DISC TWO: Bye Bye Baby - Bay City Rollers
DISC THREE: Ukulele Lady - Ethel Merman
DISC FOUR: Isn’t It Amazing - Hothouse Flowers
DISC FIVE: If Only - Hazel O’Connor
DISC SIX: I Can See Clearly Now - Hothouse Flowers
DISC SEVEN: We’ll Keep a Welcome - Harry Secombe
DISC EIGHT: Francesca - Hozier

BOOK CHOICE: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
LUXURY ITEM: Red lipstick
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Can See Clearly Now - Hothouse Flowers

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley

Available now

59 minutes

Last on

Fri 28 Mar 2025 09:00

Music Played

  • Carpenters

    We've Only Just Begun

    • The Essential Collection (1965-1997).
    • A&M.
    • 20.
  • Bay City Rollers

    Bye Bye Baby

    • The Essential Bay City Rollers.
    • Legacy Recordings.
    • 1.
  • Ethel Merman

    Ukelele Lady

    • The World Is Your Balloon: The Decca Singles 1950 - 1951.
    • MCA.
    • 10.
  • Hothouse Flowers

    Isn't It Amazing

    • Songs from the Rain.
    • London Music Stream/Because Music.
    • 6.
  • Hazel O’Connor

    If Only

    • Breaking Glass.
    • EMI.
    • 12.
  • Hothouse Flowers

    I Can See Clearly Now

    • The Best Of.
    • London Music Stream/Because Music.
    • 5.
  • Harry Secombe

    We'll Keep a Welcome

    • Harry Secombe Showcase.
    • Radio Tower Records.
    • 14.
  • Hozier

    Francesca

    • Unknown / Nth.
    • Universal-Island Records Ltd..
    • 2.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 23 Mar 2025 10:00
  • Fri 28 Mar 2025 09:00

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast