Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage prompt implementation of the updated NICE guidance on twin, triplet and more pregnancies, which is due to be published in 2019.

In 2017, the Department funded the Twins and Multiple Births Association Maternity Engagement Project. The results from the interim report suggest that increased adherence to relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance gave better outcomes for multiple births. Taking this into account, the Department expects all health professionals working with multiple pregnancies to adhere to the relevant NICE guidance.

To reduce variance in the levels of maternity care across trusts, all maternity services now have one obstetrician, one midwife and one board level Maternity Safety Champion jointly responsible for championing maternity safety, spreading learning and encouraging best practice within their organisations. This includes adherence to NICE guidelines on issues such as antenatal care for multiple pregnancies.