Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by the Baby Loss and Maternity All Party Parliamentary Groups entitled Safe Staffing: The impact of staffing shortages in maternity and neonatal care, published on 13 October 2022, what assessment she has made of the implications of that report's findings for her Department's policies; and if she will take steps to support (a) a reduction in the rates of baby loss, (b) increased provision of specialist bereavement care following pregnancy loss and the death of a baby and (c) sufficient and safe staffing levels for maternity services.

No assessment has been made of the implications of the Baby Loss and Maternity All Party Parliamentary Group report on Safe Staffing on the Department of Health and Social Care’s policies.

Since 2010, the rate of stillbirths has reduced by 19.3%, the rate of neonatal mortality for babies born over 24 weeks gestational age of viability has reduced by 36% and maternal mortality has reduced by 17%. The progress towards reducing brain injuries in babies has been slower. The overall rate of brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth has fallen to 4.2 per 1,000 births in 2019, 2% lower than the 2010 baseline. DHSC has provided funding to the Avoiding Brain Injuries in Childbirth collaboration to accelerate progress.

In 2022, NHS England have provided £2.26m of national funding to support trusts expand the number of staff being trained in bereavement care and directly support trusts to increase the number of days families can access specialist bereavement provision.

The Government are taking action to increase the support available in the perinatal period, including expanding perinatal mental health services around England to include new mental health “hubs” for new, expectant or bereaved mothers. This expansion includes 33 new Maternal Mental Health Services, which bring together psychological therapy, maternity services and reproductive health for women who have mental health needs following trauma or loss related to their maternity experience. These will be available across the whole of England by March 2024.