Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the number of women dying during pregnancy or in the weeks after giving birth in the Midlands.

The NHS England Midlands region is implementing the Maternal Care Bundle. The bundle includes guidance to tackle the leading causes of maternal death including thrombosis, mental health, epilepsy, and haemorrhage. Maternal medicine networks have also been established across the Midlands, coordinating specialist care pathways for women with high-risk physical comorbidities, and delivering training and education.

National Health Service providers are also implementing the Enhanced Continuity of Midwifery Carer Model, which provides women from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with support throughout pregnancy from the same midwifery team.

Additionally, NHS providers in the region are increasing access to maternal mental health services, and select trusts are participating in a new programme to reduce inequality of outcome in maternity care for women from ethnic minority groups.