Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the transition to a midwifery-led continuity of care model is adequately resourced and supported.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have committed to the provision of midwifery-led continuity of carer, so that it becomes the default model of care for women using maternity services across England by March 2023.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have provided local maternity systems with £90.05 million from 2018 to 2021 to fulfil transformational objectives, including implementing continuity of carer models. An additional £96 million was announced earlier this year in response to the emerging findings from the Ockenden Report, the majority of which will be invested in additional midwives and obstetric capacity.