Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that NHS Trusts comply with the National Bereavement Care Pathway for miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and molar pregnancy.
In October 2025, NHS England set out the expectation, through the Medium Term Planning Framework, for trusts to implement the National Bereavement Care Pathway for stillbirth and neonatal death. In practice, some of these standards will also be applicable in the context of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, and molar pregnancy, offering support for these women and families.
While miscarriage and other types of pregnancy loss were not explicitly covered in Baroness Amos’ final report into National Health Service maternity and neonatal care, she did make a recommendation around fundamentally reforming care, including through the development of a new modern service framework. The taskforce will consider all stages of maternity and neonatal care when developing its new national action plan, and we anticipate that the taskforce may wish to include pregnancy loss.
We are also working closely with NHS England to improve the availability of Early Pregnancy Assessment Units, and have extended the Baby Loss Certificate scheme, which provides recognition of pre-24-week loss.