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 implications for his policies of the MBRRACE-UK maternal deaths and morbidity statistics 2014-16 showing that (a) Asian women are nearly twice as likely, (b) mixed race women are twice as likely and (c) black women are five times as likely to die during or up to six weeks after pregnancy than white women.

The NHS Long Term Plan takes a concerted and systematic approach to reducing health inequalities and addressing unwarranted variation in care. NHS England and NHS Improvement are leading the work through the Maternity Transformation Programme to support maternity services to provide high-quality maternity care for all women.

Targeted and enhanced continuity of carer can significantly improve outcomes for women from ethnic minorities. The NHS Long Term plan sets out that 75% of black women will receive continuity of carer from midwives by 2024.

The Department is also funding research to investigate the factors associated with the excess perinatal mortality experienced by black/black British and Asian/Asian British ethnic groups and identify the factors associated with the excess risk of maternal death for black and South Asian women.