Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O'Shaughnessy on 13 November (HL11168) relating to the findings of the Twins and Multiple Births Association Maternity Engagement Project, what assessment they have made of the likely impact on reducing twin stillbirths, neonatal death and neonatal admissions of using Maternity Safety Champions to embed this work.

As outlined in the Safer Maternity Care action plan in 2016, networks such as Maternity Clinical Networks, are most effective when built on supportive multi-professional relationships and collaborative working with a focus on specific initiatives to improve care quality.

Maternity Safety Champions at every level – trust, regional and national – are working across regional, organisational and service boundaries to develop strong partnerships and to create the professional culture and leadership needed to deliver better care. They play a central role in ensuring that mothers and babies, including in cases of multiple pregnancy, receive the safest care possible.

Findings in the recent MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Mortality Surveillance Report, released earlier this year, showed the stillbirth rate for United Kingdom twins almost halving between 2014-16, a fall of 44%. In addition, neonatal deaths among UK twins has dropped 30%. NHS England collects neonatal unit admission data. However, this data cannot be disaggregated to identify admissions of twins.