
Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.
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

Try these: Desert island discssaving gracenewlywedsparenting hellhappy placeinfinite monkey cagenews agentsrest is historydailyJoe Rogan ExperienceDiary Of A CEOSteven BartlettOff MenuEd GambleJames AcasterSh**ged Married AnnoyedPeter CrouchRest Is PoliticsNo Such Thing As A FishYou’re Dead to MeStuff You Should KnowMoney BoxThe FellasUncannyKermode & Mayos TakeImpaulsiveLogan Paul
Similar Audio content
- Island FM Live Radio
- Saving Grace
- NewlyWeds
- Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe’s Parenting Hell
- Happy Place
- The Infinite Monkey Cage
- The News Agents
- The Rest is History
- The Daily
- The Therapy Crouch
- BBC Newscast
- No Such Thing As A Fish
- The Rest Is Politics
- That Peter Crouch Podcast
- Sh**ged Married Annoyed
- Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster
- The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
- The Joe Rogan Experience
- Uncanny
- Money Box
- Stuff You Should Know
- You’re Dead to Me
- They Don’t Teach This At School with Myleene Klass
- The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X Podcast
- Birmingham South Weekly News

[…] News Agents13 The Infinite Monkey Cage14 Happy Place15 Parenting Hell16 Newlyweds17 Saving Grace18 Desert Island Discs19 You’re Dead to Me20 Stuff You Should Know21 Money Box22 The Fellas23 Uncanny24 Kermode […]