Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their response to the conclusion in the 2020 final progress report of the Each Baby Counts programme run by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists that 7 per cent of parents in 2018 were not invited to local reviews into still births, deaths of babies who died within seven days of birth, or births of babies with severe brain injury.

The Department has introduced several initiatives which seeks to ensure that parents are engaged in reviews following adverse outcomes, and that lessons are learnt within the National Health Service.

The Perinatal Mortality Review Tool (PMRT) provides objective and standardised reviews for bereaved parents about why their baby died. It also aims to ensure local and national learning to improve care and ultimately prevent future baby deaths. All bereaved parents have the option to be involved in a high-quality review of the death of their baby via the PMRT. The fifth annual Perinatal Mortality Review Tool report highlighted that parental engagement with the PMRT has improved. 96% of parents in the United Kingdom were told that a review of their care would take place. Parents’ perspectives of the care they received was reported as having been sought from 95% of these parents. A copy of the report is attached.

The Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI) Programme conducts single-case investigations into specific cases of stillbirths, neonatal deaths, maternal deaths and brain injuries. It is within the remit of the programme to analyse data to identify key trends and provide system wide learning to the health system. Parental engagement is a key aspect of the investigations conducted by the MNSI.

To improve maternity services in England, NHS England published the Three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services in March 2023. The plan sets out how NHS England will make maternity and neonatal care safer, more personalised, and more equitable for women, babies, and families. A copy of the plan is attached.