Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospitals have had to close or temporarily suspend their (a) maternity wards and (b) Special Care Baby Units in the last 12 months.

The data requested is not held centrally.

The safety of mother and baby is paramount. We want to ensure that women have as many choices as possible, minimising any known risk to either themselves or their baby.

Maternity services are unable to plan the exact time and place of birth and there are occasions when a unit cannot safely accept more women into their care. In such cases, the only safe alternative is to close the unit temporarily. It is important of course, that where a unit closes, there are systems and guidelines in place to ensure pregnant women have access to the next closest maternity unit and the type of care they have chosen, including midwifery-led care.