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 adequacy of mental health support for (a) fathers and (b) partners impacted by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby provided by (i) maternal mental health services, (ii) improving access to psychological support services and (iii) community mental health services.

We recognise that experiencing baby loss can be devastating and we are committed to ensuring that all families receive safe, personalised, equitable and compassionate care.

Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services offer mental health assessments and signposting to support as required for partners of women accessing services. This contributes to helping to care for the 5-10% of fathers who experience mental health difficulties during the perinatal period.

To date, we have not undertaken an assessment of the adequacy of mental health support for fathers and partners impacted by baby loss provided by Maternal Mental Health Services.

Mental health services within the National Health Service can support adults who are experiencing mental health problems because of baby loss. The Government has chosen to prioritise funding to deliver expansions of NHS Talking Therapies. These offer well-governed, evidence-based, and effective psychological therapy services for common mental health problems, including depression, anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress reactions. These services are available in every integrated care system through self-referral.