Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether, from 21 June 2021, partners will be able to attend, in person, all maternity appointments, including the birth of a child.

Throughout the pandemic, women have been able to have one birth partner of their choice with them during labour and childbirth, as long as their birth partner is well and does not have COVID-19 symptoms. Updated guidance published on 15 April 2021 by NHS England and NHS Improvement aims to ensure that women have access to support from a person of her choosing at all stages of the maternity journey.

To facilitate this, NHS England and NHS Improvement have worked closely with trusts to adopt the actions set out in this updated guidance and to remove barriers which prevent trusts being able to facilitate partner presence in maternity units.