Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his department has made of the findings of the Held in Our Hearts Impact Report on hospital-to-home bereavement support for families following the loss of a baby.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the importance of supporting the transition from the hospital to home for bereaved families, so that support is always available when families need it most.
Held in Our Hearts is a Scottish Charity supporting Health Boards in Scotland, and healthcare in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government. The Department has not made an assessment of the findings of the Held in Our Hearts Impact Report.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support families who have experienced baby loss in Bristol Central constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Both the North Bristol NHS Trust and the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust have dedicated maternity bereavement teams who provide support for families experiencing baby loss. This includes practical help with funeral arrangements, accessing financial support, and investigations, as well as ongoing emotional support, attending appointments, and supporting them when meeting and making memories with their baby.
Counselling or access to psychological support are available, and spiritual or religious support is provided by chaplaincy teams in collaboration with external religious leaders at the family's request. Support for families during subsequent pregnancy is also provided.
Local teams ensure all those experiencing early pregnancy loss are made aware of the resources available to them through partners and charities, many of whom they work with regularly, and will signpost families on to them where appropriate for ongoing support.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support families who have experienced baby loss in North Herefordshire constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Three National Health Service trusts primarily provide services supporting families in the North Herefordshire constituency who have experienced baby loss.
The Wye Valley NHS Trust has a dedicated bereavement midwife, who is trained to care for and support parents and families who have suffered the loss of their baby. There is a dedicated bereavement suite at the Hereford County Hospital, where families are cared for after birth and can spend time with their baby. If they wish, parents also have the option of doing memory making activities with their baby.
The Worcestershire Royal Hospital provides dedicated bereavement care through specialised bereavement suites, managed by bereavement midwives.
Targeted psychological interventions for women experiencing moderate, severe, and complex mental health difficulties following birth trauma or baby loss at any stage, are provided by the Beacon Maternal Mental Health Service, which is part of the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with families who have experienced baby loss on their experience of (a) maternity services and (b) other healthcare provision.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has held a series of meetings with harmed and bereaved families from across the country to hear about their experiences of maternity care and the wider healthcare system, most recently meeting with families failed by maternity care at Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust. He has also twice visited Nottingham to meet with families involved in the ongoing independent review of maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Hon. Member and other local constituency MPs were invited to a meeting. However, the Hon. Member was unable to attend.
The Secretary of State has committed to ensuring the voices of women and families are at the heart of improving standards.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of women who suffered baby loss between 2020 and 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Baby loss can include miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, and neonatal death. Official statistics published by the Office for National Statistics on stillbirths and neonatal deaths are available at the following link:
NHS England does not hold comprehensive data on miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies as it is not consistently or officially counted in the same way as live births, stillbirths, or neonatal deaths. The Maternity Services Data Set records information from the point of a person booking an appointment for maternity care and therefore does not include losses prior to contact with National Health Service maternity services, nor is the data of sufficient quality and completeness to produce any counts data. Information on miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies resulting in a hospital stay is published in the Hospital Episodes Statistics, although not all such pregnancies will involve an NHS hospital stay and therefore will not be included, with further information available in Table 1i, named Miscarriage and ectopic pregnancies which resulted in an NHS hospital stay, in the document attached.
The most recent available data shows that there were 31,046 finished consultant episodes with a primary diagnosis of miscarriage in 2020/21, 33,352 in 2021/22, 33,126 in 2022/23, and 35,876 in 2023/24. In addition, there were 10,368 finished consultant episodes with a primary diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy in 2020/21, 11,088 in 2021/22, 10,999 in 2022/23, and 12,122 in 2023/24.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of making the National Bereavement Care Pathway training mandatory for all healthcare professionals that come into contact with families experiencing (a) pregnancy loss and (b) the death of a baby.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All trusts in England are signed up to the National Bereavement Care Pathway, with the aim to ensure that all bereaved parents are offered equal, high quality, individualised, safe, and sensitive care.
Training is the responsibility of individual trusts, overseen by their integrated care boards, so NHS England does not mandate its adoption.
There is ongoing work between NHS England and Sands, the national charity for baby loss awareness who support families with baby loss, to explore the next steps for the pathway, and we will update in due course.
Many trusts have specialist bereavement midwives, who are trained to care for and support parents and families who have suffered from the loss of their baby. Bereavement midwives are responsible for offering immediate and long-term emotional support, information, and practical guidance, at a time of great difficulty and sadness.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all bereaved parents who need specialist psychological support following (a) pregnancy and (b) baby loss can access it (i) at any time and (ii) free of charge through the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Experiencing pregnancy or baby loss can be extremely difficult and traumatic. We are determined to make sure all bereaved parents, regardless of where they live, have access to specialist psychological support, free of charge through the National Health Service.
Following the loss of a baby, all parents should receive timely, equitable, and culturally competent care. To support this, NHS England has provided funding to all integrated care boards to establish seven-day-a-week bereavement services across maternity settings in England, so that support is always available when families need it most. Currently, 38 out of 42 integrated care boards offer a seven day a week bereavement service, with coverage in 115 out of 120 trusts.
Every trust in England has signed up to the National Bereavement Care Pathway. This pathway is designed to improve the quality and consistency of bereavement care for parents and families experiencing pregnancy or baby loss. NHS England is working closely with Sands to agree what steps are necessary to support faster and more consistent implementation of the pathway so that all parents, no matter where they are, receive the support they need at such a difficult time.
As of July 2025, maternal mental health services are now available in all areas of England. These services provide specialist psychological support for women with moderate/severe or complex mental health difficulties arising from birth trauma or baby loss. More mothers than ever before, including those sadly affected by the loss of their baby or child, were able to access maternal mental health services or specialist community perinatal mental health services in the year to April 2025.
Fathers and partners can receive evidence-based assessments and support through specialist perinatal mental health services, and some NHS trusts also work with Home Start UK’s Dad Matters project to support paternal mental health. Where mothers and partners may have a need for mental health support, but it is not a moderate or severe mental health condition, it is important they can be signposted to other forms of support through their general practitioner and NHS Talking Therapies.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 ensure that (a) fathers, (b) families from minority (i) ethnic and (ii) faith backgrounds and (c) other bereaved parents receive (A) timely, (B) equitable and (C) culturally competent support following the loss of a baby.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the loss of a baby, all parents should receive timely, equitable, and culturally competent care. To support this, NHS England has provided funding to all integrated care boards (ICBs) to establish seven-day-a-week bereavement services across maternity settings in England, so that support is always available when families need it most. Currently, 38 out of 42 ICBs offer a seven day a week bereavement service.
Bereavement care and cultural competence are both included within the Core Competency Framework which sets out the essential training for staff to help to address variations in the quality of support provided. Over 15,400 maternity staff have completed the e-learning module on cultural competency to date.
In addition, the leaders of all 150 maternity and neonatal units in England have now participated in the Perinatal Culture and Leadership programme. Recognising that more is needed to ensure families from minority ethnic and faith backgrounds receive the appropriate care, NHS England is rolling out a perinatal equity anti-discrimination programme to equip staff with the skills to provide the best possible care.
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 assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to specialist psychological support for parents following pregnancy or baby loss in each region; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all bereaved parents can access such support through the NHS regardless of where they live.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to ensure all women and babies receive the high-quality care they deserve, regardless of their background, location or ethnicity. That is why the Secretary of State has set up a rapid, national, independent Investigation into National Health Service maternity and neonatal services to understand the systemic issues behind why so many women, babies and families experience unacceptable care.
The Investigation will deliver interim recommendations in December 2025, ahead of further findings in spring 2026. The Secretary of State will chair a Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce that will develop an action plan based on the Investigation recommendations and oversee implementation and improvement in outcomes.
Bereavement services that are available seven days a week are also being set up in every area in England to support women and families who experience pregnancy loss or neonatal death. These services are in place in 115 out of 120 trusts with maternity services in England.
All NHS trusts in England are also signed up to the National Bereavement Care Pathway which is designed to improve the quality and consistency of bereavement care for parents and families experiencing pregnancy or baby loss.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what targets his Department has on reducing inequalities in (a) baby deaths and (b) pregnancy loss.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A number of interventions specifically aimed at addressing maternal and neonatal inequalities are underway. These include the Perinatal Equity and Anti-Discrimination Programme, delivery of an inequalities dashboard, and projects on removing racial bias from clinical education and embedding genetic risk equity. Additionally, 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.
An important aspect of both the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation and the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce announced in June 2025, is to address inequalities in maternal and neonatal care and promote health equity in the delivery of those services.
The Government remains committed to setting an explicit target to close the Black and Asian maternal mortality gap, and is taking an evidence-based approach to ensure that any targets set are women and baby-centred.