Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Research on research into the feasibility of pre-12-week pregnancy loss data collection.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

While miscarriage hospital stay data is collected, the majority of baby losses occur outside of healthcare settings, and it is rightly the choice of the individual who has experienced the loss to disclose this information to healthcare professionals. It is therefore not possible to gather accurate and comprehensive data on miscarriages.

The Department has not explicitly discussed the feasibility of pre-12-week pregnancy loss data collection with the NIHR, but further data is being collected to help fill the current gap. For example, the Digital Maternity Record Standard Release 2 was updated in 2024 and recommends that a code for birth outcome, including miscarriage, is recorded as well as information on previous miscarriage or pregnancy loss.

The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of maternal health, including pregnancy loss.