A midwife is suing the NHS over claims she was forced from her job for being too sexual – while exposing maternity shortcomings on TikTok. 

Lara Basini-Millar gained significant attention when she started sharing her worries regarding NHS maternity services on social media.

She claims she spoke up about a ‘worrying’ culture emerging after working for 21 years as a senior midwife at Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

However, after expressing her concerns on TikTok, she was summoned by hospital officials who accused her of being ‘too sexual’ and ‘impersonating’ a midwife within the trust.

At 45, Lara, who operates under the name midwifemillar, was once featured on Channel 4’s “One Born Every Minute.” She originally created her channel to empower women and bolster their self-esteem.

She claims a ‘clique’ of fellow midwives then created a WhatsApp group chat to criticise her videos and subjected her to a ‘witch hunt’.

She has now launched legal action for unfair constructive dismissal by the North Bristol NHS Trust with a tribunal due to start in Bristol on Monday.

Before a hearing, Lara, from Yatton near Bristol, remarked about the challenging culture over the past five years, stating, “Bringing these issues to light only causes more problems.”

Lara Basini-Millar (pictured) gained a large following on social media by discussing her concerns about how the NHS maternity services were managed.

She has voiced concerns about a ‘troubling’ culture developing after spending 21 years as a senior midwife at Southmead Hospital in Bristol (Seen: A screenshot from one of Lara’s TikTok videos).

But after using her TikTok account to air these grievances – she was called in by hospital bosses for being ‘too sexual’ and told she was ‘impersonating’ being a midwife at the trust (Pictured: A screengrab from one of Lara’s TikTok videos)

‘I wanted to speak up about things that were happening. Sometimes there would be a baby death, but I felt nothing was being done. They would focus on stuff that didn’t matter and I felt they would cover up the other stuff.’

Lara said maternity staff at the trust started complaining about her videos shortly after she began posting them.

She was told they were ‘unprofessional, sexual in nature and ‘undermined the reputation of the trust,’ even though they did not identify her workplace.

Lara said she felt she was targeted for airing the grievances publicly.

She added: ‘I felt they were bullying me over being too loud.

‘I set up my TikTok when I was 40 going through my divorce and wanted something for me. It was quite small and plain and I was talking about things to do with my pregnancy but not anything controversial.

‘They said complaints had been made about me but wouldn’t tell me who they were.

‘I just had enough. This was ridiculous. They were not even saying what it is I had supposedly done.’ 

Lara, 45, who posts under the name midwifemillar, previously appeared on Channel 4 ‘s One Born Every Minute and set up the channel initially to help women ‘believe in themselves’

She claims a ‘clique’ of fellow midwives then created a WhatsApp group chat to criticise her videos and subjected her to a ‘witch hunt’

Lara claimed she was also asked to hand into the trust the clothes she wore in the posts, even though she had bought them herself and they had no hospital branding on them.

She added: ‘They said I was being sexual on the videos – impersonating being midwife. But I was not wearing one of their uniforms. It was one I bought and was completely different. It was a navy dress, with white piping and navy scrubs.

‘Their uniform had burgundy scrubs – completely different.’

Among the videos posted on her account are ones of her in her ‘own uniform’ dancing seductively while offering woman advice about having sex while pregnant.

In late 2022 Lara said she gave her notice as she claimed she couldn’t cope with what she described as ‘constant bullying.’

She was quickly ‘poached’ by another trust in Chelsea and Westminster to develop their social media but said things then took a further ‘dark twist’.

In March 2023, she was phoned and told that she had made a serious clinical error and her future shifts had been cancelled.

Lara has now launched legal action for unfair constructive dismissal by the North Bristol NHS Trust with a tribunal due to start in Bristol on Monday

Lara said maternity staff at the trust started complaining about her videos shortly after she began posting them

She was accused of coercing a woman out of having a Caesarean section against a consultant’s wishes.

An investigation found colleagues ‘unnecessarily dug up a past incident’

The trust reported her to the regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), who launched an urgent fitness to practise review.

The inquiry found there were no immediate concerns about her and an internal investigation was then launched by Southmead Hospital.

On the central allegation, that she had pushed the woman to have a vaginal birth against medical advice, the review concluded ‘there was no evidence to support this allegation’.

NMC also wrote to her earlier this year saying they had closed their investigation as ‘there was no case for you to answer’.

Lara added: ‘There was an insinuation that I had a complaint from patient. I worked for 21 years with no complaints.

‘No one told me what it was. It turns out there was no complaints but a couple of members of staff had issues with what I was doing.

She was told her videos were ‘unprofessional, sexual in nature and ‘undermined the reputation of the trust,’ even though they did not identify her workplace

‘The next thing I know they are reporting a ‘grave’ clinical error and said I would be taken off further shifts.

‘They had made out I had done something horrendous. It was presumed a baby or mum must have injured – but it turns out again there was no injury and no complaint.

‘It was a malicious referral but NMC threw it out and nothing happened.

‘My tribunal starts next Monday but I will not work as an NHS midwife again and am considering coming off the register completely because of the way I’ve been treated.’

Lara now has a growing following of 160k followers and aims to use her account for advice and empowerment for women who are pregnant.

She has already rejected a £9.5K offer from the trust to settle ahead of the hearing.

She added: ‘The tribunal will be five days in court and has been a very stressful experience for me.

‘I was discriminated against for speaking up about failures. They weren’t looking at people’s outcomes and promoting people who were not fit to do the job. It was a dangerous situation and was all about if you fitted in.

Lara now has a growing following of 160k followers and aims to use her account for advice and empowerment for women who are pregnant

‘They couldn’t get me on my practice. I was good at my job. They tried that but then they went after me because of my videos.

‘This isn’t about the money for me. I was offered a settlement to be silent But if the truth can come out, someone somewhere might actually do something.

‘I think they just want to discredit me by claiming I was an unsafe midwife. But any allegations have been proven false. My whole livelihood and everything I worked for has gone.’

The North Bristol NHS Trust said it would be ‘inappropriate’ to comment because of the forthcoming court case.

In a statement, the trust said that as the allegations were subject to an employment tribunal ‘it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this stage’.

They added that their staff were ‘deeply valued and we take any and all concerns raised with the utmost seriousness’.