Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a list of maternity hospitals in England which (a) have, (b) do not have and (c) are planning to create Bereavement Suites.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This information is not held by NHS England. We previously funded SANDs, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce and support the roll-out of a National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) to reduce the variation in the quality of bereavement care provided by the National Health Service.
The pathway covers a range of circumstances of a baby loss including miscarriage, stillbirth, termination of pregnancy for medical reasons, neonatal death, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). As of 1 January 2023, 84% or 108 NHS England trusts have committed to adopting the nine NBCP standards. One of the nine standards is that bereavement rooms are available in every healthcare setting where a pregnancy or baby loss may occur.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to support research into the causes of baby loss.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and is the largest public funder of health research in the United Kingdom.
The NIHR funds a range of research in maternal and neonatal health focussing on the safety of maternity and neonatal services, and the national maternity ambition to halve maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths and brain injury by 2025.
Since 2011, NIHR Research Programmes have invested £21.5 million on 27 awards conducting research into miscarriage and stillbirth. Additionally, the NIHR Policy Research Programme funds a Policy Research Unit dedicated to Maternal & Neonatal Health & Care research which is based at the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, and led by Professor Jenny Kurinczuk.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure health and social care staff receive culturally-informed training in bereavement, particularly how to identify those at risk of complex grief disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The End of Life Care for All e-learning training programme has been developed by Health Education England (HEE) to ensure health and social care staff are equipped and well-supported to deliver bereavement care. One of the nine modules in this programme is on bereavement and covers palliative care, sudden death, and childhood bereavement. There are also specific sessions in this programme which provide training on identifying cultural barriers, supporting people from diverse ethnic backgrounds, and identifying the risk factors that can impact on the grieving process and affect a carer’s bereavement outcome. NHS England is promoting the uptake of this training programme through its Strategic Clinical Networks.
There are many other e-learning programmes available at HEE’s e-learning platform that deliver more specialised training on bereavement, for example after suicide or baby loss, and on post-traumatic stress disorder.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
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 ensure safe, sustainable staffing levels across maternity services; and what steps he is taking to ensure families affected by baby loss are offered adequate and specialised bereavement support.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department is committed to expanding midwifery training places by 3,650 over a four year period. Increases of 626 in 2019/20 and 1,140 in 2020/21 were achieved, and as of January 2023, the student data collection is showing an increase of 1271 in 2021/22. An additional £127 million was also invested in 2022 to go into the maternity system to help increase the National Health Service maternity workforce and improve neonatal care.
The Government funded the Stillbirths and Neonatal Death charity to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce and support the roll-out of a National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP). The pathway covers a range of circumstances of a baby loss including miscarriage, stillbirth, termination of pregnancy for medical reasons, neonatal death and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. As of 1 January 2023, 108 NHS England trusts (84%) have committed to adopting the nine NBCP standards.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
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 improve the provision of bereavement support in Ealing Central and Acton constituency for parents and families following baby loss.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government funded the Stillbirths and Neonatal Death charity (SANDs) to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce and support the roll-out of a National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP). The pathway covers a range of circumstances of a baby loss including miscarriage, stillbirth, termination of pregnancy for medical reasons, neonatal death and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). As of 1 January 2023, 108 NHS England Trusts (84%) have committed to adopting the nine NBCP standards. 21 Trusts, including London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, are yet to do so, and NBCP England continue to push for their inclusion.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce baby loss.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Since 2010, the stillbirth rate has reduced 19.3%, the neonatal mortality rate for babies born over the 24-week gestational age of viability has reduced by 36%, and the proportion of babies born preterm has reduced from 8% in 2017 to 7.7% in 2021. Where progress to reduce adverse outcomes has been slower, we have introduced several targeted interventions to accelerate progress, such as the introduction of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and the Brain Injury Reduction Programme.
In 2022, the Government announced a £127 million investment into the maternity system in 2022 to help increase the National Health Service maternity workforce and improve neonatal care. The Department also announced as part of the Women’s Health Strategy that it would work to introduce pregnancy loss certificates in England for those impacted by baby loss.
The Government funded the Stillbirths and Neonatal Death charity to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce and support the roll-out of a National Bereavement Care Pathway. The pathway covers a range of circumstances of a baby loss including miscarriage, stillbirth, termination of pregnancy for medical reasons, neonatal death and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. As of 1 January 2023, 108 NHS England trusts (84%) have committed to adopting the nine NBCP standards.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) reduce and (b) improve bereavement support for families impacted by baby loss.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Since 2010, the stillbirth rate has reduced 19.3%, the neonatal mortality rate for babies born over the 24-week gestational age of viability has reduced by 36%, and the proportion of babies born preterm has reduced from 8% in 2017 to 7.7% in 2021. Where progress to reduce adverse outcomes has been slower, we have introduced several targeted interventions to accelerate progress, such as the introduction of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and the Brain Injury Reduction Programme.
In 2022, the Government announced a £127 million investment into the maternity system in 2022 to help increase the National Health Service maternity workforce and improve neonatal care. The Department also announced as part of the Women’s Health Strategy that it would work to introduce pregnancy loss certificates in England for those impacted by baby loss.
The Government funded the Stillbirths and Neonatal Death charity to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce and support the roll-out of a National Bereavement Care Pathway. The pathway covers a range of circumstances of a baby loss including miscarriage, stillbirth, termination of pregnancy for medical reasons, neonatal death and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. As of 1 January 2023, 108 NHS England trusts (84%) have committed to adopting the nine NBCP standards.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the Pregnancy Loss Review final report.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Pregnancy Loss Review was commissioned to consider the registration and certification of pregnancy loss occurring before 24 weeks gestation and the quality of National Health Service care. The Review will make recommendations on improving the care and support women and families receive when experiencing a pre-24-week gestation baby loss.
We know that the Pregnancy Loss Review has been delayed, and part of this delay is due to the coronavirus pandemic. We are working with the independent review leads to get it published as soon as possible.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide a timeline for the Pregnancy Loss Review; whether he expects the review to reflect the recommendations from Miscarriage Matters, The Lancet Journals series published in April 2021; and whether he expects the review to recommend that (a) every miscarriage should be acknowledged and recorded and the figures published and (b) consistent miscarriage care should be available 24 hours a day in every area of the country.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Pregnancy Loss Review: Care and Support when Baby Loss Occurs Before 24 Weeks Gestation was commissioned to consider the registration and certification of pregnancy loss occurring before 24 weeks gestation and on the quality of National Health Service care. The Review will make recommendations on improving the care and support women and families receive when experiencing a pre-24-week gestation baby loss. We know that the Review has been delayed and part of this delay is due to the coronavirus pandemic. We are working with the independent review leads to get it published as soon as possible.
There are currently no official statistics reported for miscarriages. It is hard to accurately report miscarriage figures in England due to a significant number of miscarriages not being reported to a healthcare provider, especially those that take place at an early gestation. However, while this is complex this is an area that the Government is considering more closely. The Government is committed to considering the Lancet Series’ recommendation to record every miscarriage.
We cannot commit to the recommendation of miscarriage support 24 hours a day in every area of the country at this stage, but we remain committed to providing all women with safe care and we encourage services to provide care in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guideline on Ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage, published April 2019.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that all (a) women and (b) partners have access to bereavement support following pregnancy loss.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government has funded the Stillbirths and Neonatal Death charity (SANDs) to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce and support the deployment of a National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP). The pathway covers a range of circumstances of a baby loss including miscarriage, stillbirth, termination of pregnancy for medical reasons, neonatal death and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). As of 1 April 2022, 99 NHS England Trusts have committed to adopting the nine NBCP standards.
As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, we are looking to improve the access and quality of perinatal mental health care for mothers and their partners. Mental health services around England are also being expanded to include new mental health “hubs” for new, expectant or bereaved mothers. The 33 new maternal mental health services will provide psychological therapy, maternity services and reproductive health for women with mental health needs following trauma or loss related to their maternity experience. These will be available across England by March 2024.