Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implementation of the baby loss certificate scheme, and whether they have plans to extend it further.

The baby loss certificate scheme was launched by the Department in February 2024, initially for losses that occurred after 1 September 2018. In October 2024, the scheme was extended to make the service available for all losses. The scheme has received very positive feedback from families, enabling those who have experienced pregnancy loss to receive a certificate recognising their loss, if they wish to do so. To date, over 100,000 certificates have been issued. The scheme currently only applies to losses that took place in England.

A formal assessment of the implementation of the baby loss certificate scheme has not been made. As part of plans for the future of the scheme, the Department and its Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts have discussed the possibility of the Baby Loss Certificate scheme becoming available in Wales and Northern Ireland. As healthcare in Wales and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of their respective governments, Welsh and Northern Irish officials are leading on this piece of work.