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 ensure that women pregnant again after the death of a child are able to access midwife-led continuity of carer support; and (a) what funding and (b) other measures his Department is putting in place to help ensure a comprehensive nationwide transition to offering a midwife-led continuity of carer model in maternity services.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are committed to delivering continuity of carer to most women, so that it becomes the default model of care for women in maternity services across England. 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 been delivering a £300,000 national training package to support Continuity of Carer.

The NHS Long Term Plan commits to ensuring that 75% of black and Asian women and a similar percentage of women from the most deprived neighbourhoods are offered Continuity of Carer by March 2024, with an interim ambition of 51% by March 2022.