Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on publishing the report on registration of pre-24 week stillbirths as legislated for in the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019.

‘The Independent Pregnancy Loss Review: Care and support when baby loss occurs before 24 weeks gestation’ was commissioned by the Department. The purpose of the review is to consider the impact on families of the current threshold of 24 weeks gestation before being able to formally register a miscarriage if they so wish, and whether it would be beneficial to look at legislative options to amend existing primary legislation to allow parents to register a miscarriage if they wish to do so.

Good progress has been made on the review, but work was delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Work has resumed and the review now plans to report to the Secretary of State for Health in the new year.