Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of whether the incidence rate of postpartum haemorrhage differs by (a) ethnicity, (b) deprivation, (c) geography; and how his department is ensuring better data collection for incidences of postpartum haemorrhages.

Improving maternity safety and reducing inequalities across the country is a priority for the Government, including in Surrey Heartlands. The Maternal Care Bundle sets clear standards across services by bringing together best practice to help tackle the leading causes of maternal death and harm, improve consistency of care, and reduce inequalities. One of its five elements focuses specifically on obstetric haemorrhage, including postpartum haemorrhage, and sets out best practice to support its prevention, recognition, and management.

NHS England publishes annual trust-level data on reported postpartum haemorrhages involving blood loss of 1,500 millilitres or more, including data for trusts in Surrey Heartlands, through the Maternity and Neonatal Equalities Dashboard, with further information available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/dashboards/maternity-and-neonatal-equalities-dashboard

Monthly data from April 2019, together with information on data quality, is available in the Maternity Services Monthly Statistics, which are available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/maternity-services-monthly-statistics