Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the prevalence of infant brain injuries at childbirth.

The Department has invested £7.8 million to develop the Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth programme, which will reduce the number of avoidable brain injuries that occur during childbirth. This will be implemented by NHS England and will provide staff with the tools and training to identify, intervene, and manage obstetric emergencies, as well as better identify signs that a baby is showing distress during labour.

Additionally, the Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI) Programme investigates certain cases of potential severe brain injury that occur in the first seven days of life. The MNSI investigations seek to improve maternity safety and reduce the prevalence of adverse outcomes through providing learning to the health system via reports at a local, regional, and national level.