Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the allocation of specific funding to (a) maternal health services in Enfield North constituency, (b) maternal health services supporting Black and minority ethnic women and (c) programmes to improve maternity care for mothers and children.

There have been no specific discussions.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are investing an additional £95 million in maternity services to support recruitment of 1,000 midwives, 80 consultant obstetricians and the implementation of the actions arising from the ‘Ockenden review of maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust’. In 2018/19 Health Education England (HEE) distributed £745,000 to support the implementation of Continuity of Carer models in maternity care. In 2020/21 HEE has also delivered a national training package to support Continuity of Carer. The NHS Long Term Plan also includes new measures to improve safety, quality and continuity of care that will help achieve our ambition to halve stillbirths, maternal and neonatal deaths and serious brain injuries in babies by 2025.