Nottingham Maternity and Neonatal Services

Baroness Berridge Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

It is absolutely crucial, as my noble friend says, that the training should reflect the needs of the care that will be given. That is something that I know the taskforce will look at very closely. Donna Ockenden’s report offers insight and recommendations on workforce and training. The noble Baroness, Lady Amos, may also do so. I mentioned the anti-discrimination programme, but I should also say, on inequalities, that we have launched a maternal care bundle on what the best practice is for clinical conditions that are the leading causes of death for women from Black and Asian backgrounds. As I say, the numbers reflect a great inequality which cannot be allowed to continue.

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, building on the Minister’s comments on the maternal care bundle, which was introduced because Black women are 2.3 times more likely to die in childbirth, this report also confirms that, in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, infant mortality rates were significantly higher for Black and Asian women. In the report, a full dataset is not given of women of ethnicity. Can she also reflect on the recommendations from the Preterm Birth Select Committee report that we need more nuanced recommendations in this regard, and more work on causality? It is not clear, from what I have read in the report, why there is a 2.3 times greater likelihood that these women die; we need more work on that as well.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is right to refer to the report undertaken by the Lords committee, which I was pleased to be invited to appear before. It is true that there is a complexity. Outcomes also vary between trusts. There are a lot of potential reasons, but “potential” is not good enough. In 2023, the number of stillbirths in the most deprived areas remained much higher than in the least deprived.

In all the ways that noble Lords, including the noble Baroness, have mentioned, there are deep inequalities. NHS England has published an inequalities dashboard. That is important because it supports the identification of areas where populations face the greatest disparity, so that interventions can be appropriate for them and there can be more equitable support. We will certainly look very carefully at the differences and the inequalities, because that will be a real driver for change.