Maternity Services: Ethnic Groups

(asked on 5th January 2024) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department issues guidance to healthcare professionals on having conversations with Black and Asian parents on potential medical risks to them and their baby.


Answered by
Maria Caulfield Portrait
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This question was answered on 10th January 2024

Improving personalised maternity care is a key element of NHS England’s Three Year Delivery Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Services, which commits to ensuring that all women have a Personalised Care and Support Plan in place and make informed decisions about their care through fully understanding the risks, benefits and consequences of the choices they have.

The Three Year Delivery Plan also aims to improve equity for mothers and babies, and outlines the responsibility of Integrated Care Boards to publish and lead implementation of their Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS) Equity and Equality Action Plans. LMNSs have published their plans to tackle disparities in outcomes and experiences of maternity care at a local level, which NHS England supported with £6.8 million investment and national guidance. Trusts are responsible for providing services that meet the needs of their local population, paying particular attention to health inequalities.

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