Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of healthcare provision services for pregnant women in prison.

Healthcare in women’s prisons is commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement. All pregnant women in prison are entitled to receive the same range and quality of healthcare services as they would have access to in the community including midwifery, obstetric and health visiting services. A perinatal mental health service specification has been in place since February 2021 and a national maternity and post-natal service specification is expected to be launched nationally by spring 2022 to ensure that pregnant women in prison receive high quality, consistent and respectful care.

The Women’s Estate Perinatal Pathway Steering Group, convened in January 2021, will work to support the needs of mothers and their babies in custody, share learning and best practice and identify learning from serious incidents. This group includes women with lived experience, commissioners from NHS England and NHS Improvement, HM Prison and Probation Service and private prison representatives, as well as statutory and non-statutory provider services.

The newly formed National Women’s Health and Social Care Review Group, a partnership between NHS England and NHS Improvement and HM Prison and Probation Service, is undertaking a 15-month review to improve the health and well-being of women in prison. The review seeks to reduce inequalities, improve outcomes for women in prison and upon their release and ensure equity of access to the full range of high-quality health and social care services for women in prison. The outcomes of the review, including recommendations for implementation, will be reported in spring 2022.