During World War II maternal mortality fell. In the USA deaths were investigated by local committees and in 1949 the RCOG decided Britain should do the same. Its president, Eardley Holland, had worked with George Godber of the Ministry of Health during the war and they set up an Enquiry covering England and Wales. After each death a local obstetrician sent information to a regional assessor, who could request further comments. Assessors' reports, which included no names, were collated by two national obstetric assessors. A team of five authors, including an anaesthetist, compiled a triennial report which anyone could buy. In each case a 'primary avoidable factor' was identified. Deaths were grouped by cause. The Ministry was anxious about the Report’s frankness but its publication in 1957 met with wide approval and no complaints about anonymity. The recommendations were disseminated in medical journals. Government committees recommended wideer availability of hospital birth. The Reports became UK-wide in 1985. New chapters discussed psychiatric illness, social exclusion and ethnicity, showing the need for Enquiries to continue despite the low overall mortality rate.