Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce disparities in maternity care outcomes for Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic women.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is unacceptable that there are stark inequalities for women and babies, and it is a priority for the Government to make sure all women and babies receive the high-quality care they deserve, regardless of their background, location, or ethnicity. This includes taking action before women reach maternity care, as well as after they go home, with action focusing on improving both women’s experiences and outcomes.
The Government is committed to setting an explicit target to close the maternal mortality gap. We are ensuring that we take an evidence-based approach to determining what targets are set, and that any targets set are women and baby-centred.
The National Health Service’s Three-Year Delivery Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Services sets national measures to improve maternity and neonatal services by making care more personalised and equitable. A key objective within the plan is to reduce inequalities for all in maternity access, experience, and outcomes, seeking to improve equity for mothers and babies.
As part of the plan, all local areas have published Equity and Equality Action Plans, which set out tailored interventions that will tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic backgrounds and those living in the most deprived areas. Trusts are also implementing Version 3 of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle, which provides maternity units with guidance and interventions to reduce stillbirths, neonatal brain injury, neonatal death, and preterm birth. The Department continues to work closely with the NHS as it delivers these initiatives.
Maternal Medicine Networks have also been established across England, which provide expert care to women with complex medical conditions before, during, and after pregnancy. To address inequalities in maternal outcomes, networks should put pathways in place to ensure equal access to specialised care for all women, and that referral criteria reflect the increased vulnerability of women from ethnic minorities and those who are socially deprived.
The Department is considering what longer term action can be taken to tackle disparities in outcomes and experience for black, Asian, and minority ethnic women. This includes working closely with NHS England, and the wider sector, to identify the right actions and interventions that will deliver the required change, both immediately, and in the future.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle racial disparities in maternal mortality rates.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is unacceptable that there are stark inequalities for women and babies, and it is a priority for the Government to make sure all women and babies receive the high-quality care they deserve, regardless of their background, location, or ethnicity. This includes taking action before women reach maternity care, as well as after they go home, with action focusing on improving both women’s experiences and outcomes.
The Government is committed to setting an explicit target to close the maternal mortality gap. We are ensuring that we take an evidence-based approach to determining what targets are set, and that any targets set are women and baby-centred.
The National Health Service’s Three-Year Delivery Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Services sets national measures to improve maternity and neonatal services by making care more personalised and equitable. A key objective within the plan is to reduce inequalities for all in maternity access, experience, and outcomes, seeking to improve equity for mothers and babies.
As part of the plan, all local areas have published Equity and Equality Action Plans, which set out tailored interventions that will tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic backgrounds and those living in the most deprived areas. Trusts are also implementing Version 3 of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle, which provides maternity units with guidance and interventions to reduce stillbirths, neonatal brain injury, neonatal death, and preterm birth. The Department continues to work closely with the NHS as it delivers these initiatives.
Maternal Medicine Networks have also been established across England, which provide expert care to women with complex medical conditions before, during, and after pregnancy. To address inequalities in maternal outcomes, networks should put pathways in place to ensure equal access to specialised care for all women, and that referral criteria reflect the increased vulnerability of women from ethnic minorities and those who are socially deprived.
The Department is considering what longer term action can be taken to tackle disparities in outcomes and experience for black, Asian, and minority ethnic women. This includes working closely with NHS England, and the wider sector, to identify the right actions and interventions that will deliver the required change, both immediately, and in the future.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce inequalities in (a) still-birth rates and (b) maternal mortality related to (i) class and (ii) ethnicity.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is unacceptable that there are such stark inequalities for women and babies. It is a priority for the Government to make sure that all women and babies receive the high-quality care they deserve, regardless of their background, location, or ethnicity.
We are supporting NHS England as it delivers its three-year plan to make maternity and neonatal care more personalised, safe, compassionate, and equitable for women and babies. As part of this, all Local Maternity and Neonatal Systems are implementing their equity and equality actions plans, which include targeted interventions to tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic minorities and those living in the most deprived areas. All trusts are implementing version three of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle, which provides maternity units with guidance and interventions to reduce stillbirths, brain injuries, neonatal deaths, preterm births, and inequalities.
We are working closely with NHS England, and the wider sector, to identify further interventions to address inequalities for women and babies. Some of these will require time to implement, but we also need to ensure that there are immediate actions that can begin to drive forward improvements now. This includes the targets needed to drive change, in line with the Government’s commitment to setting an explicit target to close the black and Asian maternal mortality gaps.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to address health inequalities on the basis of gender, race, and economic class; what their key priorities are in doing so; and what steps they will take to measure success.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is dedicated to building a fairer, more equal society by addressing the structural inequalities that drive poor health outcomes, especially for disadvantaged groups.
Our Health Mission in England will focus on addressing the social determinants of health, with the goal of halving the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions.
We are committed to prioritising women’s health as we build a National Health Service fit for the future. We are also taking action on the range of conditions that particularly affect men, including heart disease, liver disease, and cancer.
The Government is also committed to closing the black and Asian maternal mortality gap. Recognising the need for health inequalities to be central to all policy making, our health inequalities work has a renewed focus to bring together policy experts to reduce racial inequalities across health.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of trends in the level of maternal health inequalities affecting black women.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is unacceptable that there are such stark inequalities in maternal outcomes. The Government is committed to closing the black and Asian maternal mortality gap. We are urgently considering the immediate action needed to tackle inequalities for women and babies in maternity care.
A key objective in NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, which we are currently supporting them to deliver, is to reduce inequalities for all in maternity access, experience, and outcomes, seeking to improve equity for mothers and babies. Ongoing assessment of the impact of our policies and programmes is vital to ensuring that we improve outcomes and tackle inequalities.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to tackle health inequalities affecting women.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our health mission in England will focus on addressing the social determinants of health, with the goal of halving the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions. The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we build a National Health Service fit for the future, and women’s equality will be at the heart of our missions.
Women’s health hubs provide integrated women’s health services in the community, and have a key role tackling health inequalities faced by women. The Department has invested £25 million over 2023/24 and 2024/25 to support the establishment of at least one pilot women’s health hub in every integrated care system. As of September 2024, 36 of the 42 integrated care boards had reported to NHS England that their pilot women’s health hub was open.
The Government is also committed to closing the black and Asian maternal mortality gap. As part of NHS England's three year delivery plan, Maternity and Neonatal Systems are rolling out Equity and Equality Action Plans, which set out tailored interventions to tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic backgrounds, and those living in the most deprived areas.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle inequalities in maternal mortality rates for (a) Black women and (b) women from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is unacceptable that there are such stark inequalities in maternal outcomes. The Government is committed to closing the black and Asian maternal mortality gap. We are urgently considering the immediate action needed to tackle inequalities for women and babies in maternity care, including what targets are needed.
A key objective in NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, which we are currently supporting them in delivering, is to reduce inequalities for all in maternity access, experience, and outcomes, and to improve equity for mothers and babies. As part of that, all Local Maternity and Neonatal Systems have published Equity and Equality actions plans to tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic minorities and those living in the most deprived areas, tailored to the needs of the local area.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to resolve the issues highlighted in the Care Quality Commission’s National review of maternity services in England, 2022–2024, including those concerning workforce planning and recruitment.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) National Review of maternity services in England 2022 to 2024 shines a light on the serious issues that exist within maternity services.
The Government is taking the findings and recommendations made in the CQC’s report seriously and has committed to ensuring that trusts failing on maternity care are robustly supported into rapid improvement, whilst training thousands more midwives and setting an explicit target to close the Black and Asian maternal mortality gap.
The Government will continue to work with the National Health Service as it delivers its 3-year maternity and neonatal plan to grow the maternity workforce, develop a culture of safety, and ensure women receive safe, compassionate care.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 12 of the Fifth Special Report of Session 2022–23 of the Women and Equalities Committee entitled Black maternal health: Government Response to the Committee’s Third Report, published on 30 June 2023, HC 1611, what the outcome was of the scoping exercise undertaking by NHS England on (a) the implications of co-ordinating the Maternal Health Disparities review and (b) assessing how to bring relevant stakeholders together.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The scoping work, to fully understand the implications of co-ordinating this review and determining the best way to bring the relevant stakeholders together, has not yet started.
Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Black Child Clean Air Report published by Global Black Maternal Health in June 2023, which indicated that almost half of all Black mothers do not feel educated on the foetal impact of air pollution exposure during pregnancy.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
While no specific assessment has been made, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are working with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs to review the Air Quality Information System to ensure members of the public, and vulnerable groups, have the information they need to protect themselves and understand their impact on air quality. UKHSA’s Cleaner Air Programme also aims to reduce people’s exposure to air pollution and achieve better outcomes for all, particularly for the most vulnerable populations including pregnant women and ethnic minority groups.