Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 79 of the policy paper entitled Women's Health Strategy for England, CP 736, published on 30 August 2022, whether his Department has taken recent steps to support research on the (a) effectiveness of tools to monitor a baby’s health in utero and (b) prevention of infant deaths.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds a policy research unit dedicated to maternal and neonatal health and care. The NIHR funds research in maternal and neonatal health focusing on the safety of maternity and neonatal services and the national maternity ambition to halve maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths and brain injury by 2025.

The NIHR has funded research on fetal monitoring, including the Listen2Baby study on improving monitoring during uncomplicated labour, a study exploring prediction of fetal growth restriction and complications and a study on preventing sudden unexpected deaths in infancy through assessment and planning tools for families at increased risk.