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 pregnant women’s access to birthing choice is protected.

The NHS Long Term Plan and the accompanying guidance, Universal Personalised Care, made commitments to deliver choice and personalised care in maternity services. The NHS Long Term Plan and the Universal Personalised Care guidance are available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-term-plan/

https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/comprehensive-model/

The Maternity Programme supports local maternity systems to improve choice and deliver personalised care for women and their families.

NHS England has published guidance which sets out the four birthing choices: home birth; birth in a unit run by midwives; hospital birth; and unassisted birth. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/labour-and-birth/preparing-for-the-birth/where-to-give-birth-the-options/

The provision of arrangements for home birth and information on how this is provided is the responsibility of local National Health Service trusts, who are directed as appropriate by their integrated care board.