Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the NHS takes to assist mothers of stillborn children to come to terms with their grief.

The National Health Service locally should ensure that appropriate facilities and services are in place to support bereaved parents following the death of a baby. In line with the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Standards of proficiency for pre-registration midwifery education, all midwives should be proficient in providing care for women who have suffered pregnancy loss, stillbirth or neonatal death. Health Education England has agreed to work with partners to ensure that pre and post registration training in perinatal mental health is available to enable specialist staff to be available to every birthing unit by 2017.

To assist NHS commissioners and providers, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Standards for Gynaecology and Standards for Maternity sets out clear standards for the level of care provided to help women and their partners experiencing pregnancy loss, including the availability of skilled staff to support parents following a stillbirth or miscarriage. A number of trusts now employ specialist bereavement midwives to provide this support.

To further assist NHS maternity services, NHS Improving Quality published ‘A review of support available for loss in early and late pregnancy’ in February 2014, which highlights areas of good practice and additional sources of support, such as the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, Sands.

Local NHS maternity care providers are responsible for ensuring parents receive appropriate information on bereavement support and services following the death of a baby. To complement information provided locally, information on support for parents after a stillbirth is available on the NHS Choices website at:

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Stillbirth/Pages/Getting-help.aspx