Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will bring forward an overarching national maternity strategy to aid the improvement of maternity services and prevent birth trauma.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and NHS England Chief Executive Officer Amanda Pritchard both support the overarching recommendation from the Birth Trauma All-party Parliamentary Group inquiry report, for a comprehensive national strategy to improve maternity services. We will update on next steps in due course.

We are already making good progress on many of the individual recommendations set out in the inquiry report. This includes new guidance for general practitioners on the postnatal check-up that women should be offered six to eight weeks after giving birth, which is solely focused on the mother. We are also rolling out new physical and mental health services for new mums and mums-to-be so that they are available in all areas of England.