Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 69 of the House of Lords Preterm Birth Committee report entitled Preterm Birth: reducing risks and improving lives, HL 30, published on 14 November 2024, if his Department will revise the national maternity safety ambition to reduce the (a) incidence and (b) impact of pre-term births.

We welcome the House of Lords’ Preterm Birth Committee’s report focused on reducing risks and improving lives. We thank all the individuals and organisations that gave evidence to the Inquiry, and the committee members for their detailed examination of the issues and evidence in drawing their conclusions. We will respond to the report and the recommendations in the new year.

The National Maternity Safety Ambition will end in 2025. We are currently looking carefully at what comes beyond this ambition, to ensure that an evidence-based approach is taken, and that all targets are woman- and baby-centred.