Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the causes of trends in the level of postpartum haemorrhage rates among mothers.

Significant improvements in data coverage and data quality over recent years mean that many more National Health Service trusts are submitting more complete birth and postpartum haemorrhage information to the Maternity Services Data Set. The increased levels in postpartum haemorrhage rates may therefore be influenced by this improvement in reporting, in addition to any rise in clinical incidents.

NHS England is working to improve the timely clinical response to obstetric haemorrhage through the Maternal Care Bundle, which aims to improve the management of haemorrhage through timely identification, escalation, and response to obstetric bleeding, along with ongoing, multidisciplinary review and learning.