Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support women recovering from surgery during childbirth in light of the increasing incidence of caesarean sections.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government and NHS England remain committed to ensuring safe, personalised, and evidence-based maternity care, grounded in informed choice.
We recognise that caesarean birth is major abdominal surgery, and that recovery can place additional physical and emotional demands on women and their families in the early weeks and months after birth. Whilst there is no specific routine, long-term follow up post caesarean section, all women who have given birth should be offered a six to eight week postnatal consultation with a general practitioner covering both physical and mental health.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline on caesarean birth, reference code NG192, makes clear that women require structured postnatal support following surgery, including effective pain management, early mobilisation, monitoring of wound healing and complications, and support with infant feeding and care.
The National Health Service does not attribute the increase in the number of caesarean births to a single cause, as it is influenced by many factors, including women choosing to have a caesarean birth, higher rates of pre-existing health conditions, and more pregnancies involving complications.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the suitability of current postnatal care practices in light of the increasing incidence of caesarean sections; and what plans they have, if any, to reform these practices.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government and NHS England remain committed to ensuring safe, personalised, and evidence-based maternity care, grounded in informed choice.
We recognise that caesarean birth is major abdominal surgery, and that recovery can place additional physical and emotional demands on women and their families in the early weeks and months after birth. Whilst there is no specific routine, long-term follow up post caesarean section, all women who have given birth should be offered a six to eight week postnatal consultation with a general practitioner covering both physical and mental health.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline on caesarean birth, reference code NG192, makes clear that women require structured postnatal support following surgery, including effective pain management, early mobilisation, monitoring of wound healing and complications, and support with infant feeding and care.
The National Health Service does not attribute the increase in the number of caesarean births to a single cause, as it is influenced by many factors, including women choosing to have a caesarean birth, higher rates of pre-existing health conditions, and more pregnancies involving complications.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increasing incidence of caesarean sections; and whether they consider that increase to be the result of patient choice or the state of maternity services.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government and NHS England remain committed to ensuring safe, personalised, and evidence-based maternity care, grounded in informed choice.
We recognise that caesarean birth is major abdominal surgery, and that recovery can place additional physical and emotional demands on women and their families in the early weeks and months after birth. Whilst there is no specific routine, long-term follow up post caesarean section, all women who have given birth should be offered a six to eight week postnatal consultation with a general practitioner covering both physical and mental health.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline on caesarean birth, reference code NG192, makes clear that women require structured postnatal support following surgery, including effective pain management, early mobilisation, monitoring of wound healing and complications, and support with infant feeding and care.
The National Health Service does not attribute the increase in the number of caesarean births to a single cause, as it is influenced by many factors, including women choosing to have a caesarean birth, higher rates of pre-existing health conditions, and more pregnancies involving complications.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the increasing incidence of caesarean sections on childbearing families in the early weeks and months after birth.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government and NHS England remain committed to ensuring safe, personalised, and evidence-based maternity care, grounded in informed choice.
We recognise that caesarean birth is major abdominal surgery, and that recovery can place additional physical and emotional demands on women and their families in the early weeks and months after birth. Whilst there is no specific routine, long-term follow up post caesarean section, all women who have given birth should be offered a six to eight week postnatal consultation with a general practitioner covering both physical and mental health.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline on caesarean birth, reference code NG192, makes clear that women require structured postnatal support following surgery, including effective pain management, early mobilisation, monitoring of wound healing and complications, and support with infant feeding and care.
The National Health Service does not attribute the increase in the number of caesarean births to a single cause, as it is influenced by many factors, including women choosing to have a caesarean birth, higher rates of pre-existing health conditions, and more pregnancies involving complications.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support childbearing families during the postnatal recovery period following births involving major surgery.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government and NHS England remain committed to ensuring safe, personalised, and evidence-based maternity care, grounded in informed choice.
We recognise that caesarean birth is major abdominal surgery, and that recovery can place additional physical and emotional demands on women and their families in the early weeks and months after birth. Whilst there is no specific routine, long-term follow up post caesarean section, all women who have given birth should be offered a six to eight week postnatal consultation with a general practitioner covering both physical and mental health.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline on caesarean birth, reference code NG192, makes clear that women require structured postnatal support following surgery, including effective pain management, early mobilisation, monitoring of wound healing and complications, and support with infant feeding and care.
The National Health Service does not attribute the increase in the number of caesarean births to a single cause, as it is influenced by many factors, including women choosing to have a caesarean birth, higher rates of pre-existing health conditions, and more pregnancies involving complications.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 9 February (HL Deb col 4GC), whether water pollution, flooding and heatwaves are environmental factors under section 45 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has intentionally defined “environmental factors” broadly under section 45 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026.
Rather than setting out an exhaustive list, the act provides flexibility for strategic authorities, combined authorities, combined county authorities, and mayors to consider the full range of environmental factors that may be relevant when exercising their functions.
This can include matters such as water pollution, flooding, and heatwaves, where these are relevant to their functions and responsibilities.