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 improve the chances of survival for babies born prematurely.

The National Maternity Safety Ambition includes a target to reduce the pre-term birth rate from 8% to 6% by 2025. ‘Saving Babies Lives Version Two: A care bundle for reducing perinatal mortality’ includes an element to reduce the number of pre-term births and optimise care when pre-term delivery cannot be prevented. This includes greater intervention on prediction, prevention and preparation for mothers and babies at risk of pre-term birth. The development of specialist pre-term birth clinics across England to care for women with heightened risk of pre-term birth, is also outlined in the care bundle. The establishment of pre-term birth clinics has been widely promoted across all local maternity systems, provider trusts and clinical networks.