Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
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 the findings of the Maternal, Newborn and Infant Clinical Outcome Review Programme's 2019 publication entitled Saving Lives, Improving Mothers' Care, on the elevated risk of maternal death for Black and Asian women.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Analysis of maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths, undertaken by MBRRACE-UK, shows that poor outcomes are much higher for mothers and babies from Black/Black British and Asian/Asian British ethnic groups and women living in the most deprived areas of the country.
Work to reduce health inequalities around maternal and perinatal mortality rates is being led by Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE, Chief Midwifery Officer. This includes understanding why mortality rates are higher, considering evidence about what will reduce mortality rates and taking action to reduce mortality rates. The work is multi-disciplinary and involves a range of stakeholder groups, including users of maternity services.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Maternal, Newborn and Infant Clinical Outcome Review Programme Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care, published November 2019, which concluded that "black women still have more than five times the risk of dying in pregnancy or up to six weeks postpartum compared to white women".
Answered by Lord Bethell
Analysis of maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths, undertaken by MBRRACE-UK, shows that poor outcomes are much higher for mothers and babies from black/black British and Asian/Asian British ethnic groups and women living in the most deprived areas of the country.
Work to reduce health inequalities around maternal and perinatal mortality rates is being led by Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE, the Chief Midwifery Officer. This includes understanding why mortality rates are higher, considering evidence about what will reduce mortality rates and taking action to reduce mortality rates. The work is multi-disciplinary and involves a range of stakeholder groups, including users of maternity services.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to improve maternal mortality rates for Black women.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Analysis of maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths, undertaken by MBRRACE-UK, shows that poor outcomes are much higher for mothers from Black/Black British and Asian/Asian British ethnic groups and women living in the most deprived areas of the country.
Work to reduce health inequalities around maternal mortality rates is being led by Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE, Chief Midwifery Officer. This includes understanding why mortality rates are higher, considering evidence about what will reduce mortality rates and taking action to reduce mortality rates. The work is multi-disciplinary and involves a range of stakeholder groups, including users of maternity services.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timeframe is for his Department's receipt of the findings of the Government-funded research by the National Institute of Health Research's Policy Research Unit in Maternal and Neonatal Health and Care at the University of Oxford into the factors associated with the excess risk of maternal death for Black and South Asian women.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The National Institute for Health Research's Policy Research Unit in Maternal and Neonatal Health and Care is undertaking the project – ‘Why are Black and ethnic minority mothers more likely to die either during pregnancy, or within the first year of giving birth, compared to white mothers born in the UK?’
The Department is due to receive initial findings from this study in autumn 2020.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment his Department has made of mortality rates between black and white women in childbirth.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Department is funding the Maternal and Neonatal Policy Research Unit at the University of Oxford to investigate the factors associated with the excess perinatal mortality experienced by black, Asian and minority ethnic babies; and identify the factors associated with the excess risk of maternal death for black and South Asian women.
The NHS Long Term Plan outlines plans to reduce health inequalities and address unwarranted variation in maternity care. This work is led by NHS England through the Maternity Transformation Programme.
Targeted and enhanced continuity of care from the same midwife, or group of midwives can significantly improve outcomes for women. The NHS Long Term Plan sets out that 75% of black women will receive continuity of care from midwives by 2024.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
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 mortality rates of black women in childbirth.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Department is funding the Maternal and Neonatal Policy Research Unit at the University of Oxford to investigate the factors associated with the excess perinatal mortality experienced by black, Asian and minority ethnic babies; and identify the factors associated with the excess risk of maternal death for black and South Asian women.
The NHS Long Term Plan outlines plans to reduce health inequalities and address unwarranted variation in maternity care. This work is led by NHS England through the Maternity Transformation Programme.
Targeted and enhanced continuity of care from the same midwife, or group of midwives can significantly improve outcomes for women. The NHS Long Term Plan sets out that 75% of black women will receive continuity of care from midwives by 2024.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
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 racial disparities in maternal healthcare.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The commitment in the NHS Long Term Plan to rolling out continuity of carer will ensure that thousands of women receive safe and personal maternity care, improving outcomes for both mother and baby, and reducing health inequalities.
By 2024, 75% of women from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, and a similar percentage of women from the most deprived groups, will receive this continuity of care from their midwife throughout pregnancy, labour and the postnatal period, as a key part of our ambition to achieve 50% reductions in stillbirth, mother and child deaths and serious brain injury.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will commission an urgent review of maternal care in response to the findings of the MBRRACE-UK maternal deaths and morbidity statistics 2014-16 relating to increased maternal mortality rates for women from BAME communities.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Department is funding the Maternal and Neonatal Policy Research Unit at the University of Oxford to investigate the factors associated with the excess perinatal mortality experienced by black, Asian and minority ethnic babies; and identify the factors associated with the excess risk of maternal death for black and South Asian women.
The NHS Long Term Plan outlines plans to reduce health inequalities and address unwarranted variation in maternity care. This work is led by NHS England through the Maternity Transformation Programme.
Targeted and enhanced continuity of care from the same midwife, or group of midwives can significantly improve outcomes for women. The NHS Long Term plan sets out that 75% of black women will receive continuity of carer from midwives by 2024.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
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 the MBRRACE-UK maternal deaths and morbidity statistics 2014-16 showing that (a) Asian women are nearly twice as likely, (b) mixed race women are twice as likely and (c) black women are five times as likely to die during or up to six weeks after pregnancy than white women.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The NHS Long Term Plan takes a concerted and systematic approach to reducing health inequalities and addressing unwarranted variation in care. NHS England and NHS Improvement are leading the work through the Maternity Transformation Programme to support maternity services to provide high-quality maternity care for all women.
Targeted and enhanced continuity of carer can significantly improve outcomes for women from ethnic minorities. The NHS Long Term plan sets out that 75% of black women will receive continuity of carer from midwives by 2024.
The Department is also funding research to investigate the factors associated with the excess perinatal mortality experienced by black/black British and Asian/Asian British ethnic groups and identify the factors associated with the excess risk of maternal death for black and South Asian women.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
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 reduce maternal mortality among BAME women.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The higher rates of maternal mortality experienced by black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) women is a complex and serious issue. The Department has commissioned the Policy Research Unit in Maternal and Neonatal Health and Care at Oxford University to undertake a research project in 2019-20 to investigate the factors associated with excess perinatal and maternal mortality. The Department will use findings from research to inform future maternity policies.
Current plans to reduce inequalities are set out in the NHS Long Term Plan, we aim to tackle maternal mortality inequality through the introduction of an enhanced continuity of carer model. By 2024, 75% of women from BAME communities and other vulnerable women will receive continuity of care from their midwife. This will also help reduce pre-term births, hospital admissions, and the need for intervention during labour.