Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if NHS England-appointed Maternity Choice and Personalisation pioneers will take steps to improve outcomes in high-risk multiple pregnancies.

The principal focus of the Maternity Choice and Personalisation Pioneers is to test ways of improving choice and personalisation for all women accessing maternity services in the Pioneer areas, as recommended by Better Births, the report of the National Maternity Review.

More effective choice and personalisation in maternity services is expected to result in services that better meet women’s needs and preferences, including for women who tend to experience poorer outcomes such as is the case in high-risk multiple pregnancies.

The development of a personalised care plan tailored to each woman’s needs, together with the offer of a Personal Maternity Care Budget through which a woman may make meaningful, well-informed decisions about her care, should ensure that the right care is delivered to the woman and her baby taking account of her individual circumstances and how they might change as her pregnancy progresses.