BLAME culture in maternity services is preventing safety lessons being learnt, MPs have warned, as they call for urgent action to save 1,000 more babies a year. Today’s wide-ranging report by the health & social care committee on maternity safety in England reveals evidence of a “defensive culture, dysfunctional teams [and] safety lessons not learned.” The cross-party group, which includes Labour MPs Barbara Keeley and Sarah Owen, found that more than a third of Care Quality Commission ratings for maternity services identified requirements to improve safety — larger than in any other specialty. And a separate report commissioned from an expert panel set up by the committee charges that the government’s overall progress in key areas such as safety, staffing and personalised care has been far too slow and requires improvement.