Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assesssment his Department has made of the effect of covid-19 outbreak on the (a) physical health, (b) mental health, and (c) safety of new mothers.

The Government is working closely with research programmes learning from cases of pregnant women and new mothers with COVID-19 to be able to respond quickly and appropriately.

To promote the safety of pregnant women during this pandemic, NHS England and NHS Improvement have developed guidance for the temporary reorganisation of intrapartum maternity care, launched a ‘Help Us to Help You’ communications campaign to encourage women to contact their midwife whenever they have any concerns, and is supporting the increase in virtual appointments with initiatives such as distributing 16,000 blood pressure monitors for pregnant women with hypertension to use at home. National Health Service specialist perinatal mental health services remain very much open for business and for those with severe needs or in crisis, all NHS mental health trusts have been instructed to establish 24 hours a day, seven days a week mental health crisis lines.