Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Maternity and Neonatal Care

Tuesday 21 October 2025 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Samantha Niblett raised concerns about the importance of GP support for pregnant women and highlighted a tragic case involving a constituent.
  • Mr Joshua Reynolds questioned the government about measures to address the shortage of midwives and other staff in women's health services.
  • Helen Morgan criticized the current state of maternity wards, citing rising death and injury rates and calling for improved funding and services.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Samantha Niblett Lab South Derbyshire
NHS
Context

The MP raised concerns about the adequacy of maternity support, particularly in cases involving misdiagnosis over the phone leading to tragic outcomes for expectant parents. She highlighted a specific case where a constituent lost her baby due to poor care.

Question

Pregnancy can be a worrying time for any expectant parent, and knowing they can access their GP to see a person face to face is hugely important. That was denied to my constituent, Hayley Johnson, who sadly went on to lose her baby, Evelyn, when she was delivered in an emergency at 26 weeks and six days due to a huge misdiagnosis given over the phone. With regard to maternity support specifically, what is the Minister doing to ensure that excellent maternity care is delivered in local communities so that that never happens to another family, and that when the very worst does happen and parents are suffering the loss of a baby, the support also extends to bereavement counselling?

Answer from Wes Streeting

I thank my hon. Friend for the work she is doing to campaign for better support in this space and for raising these tragic cases, not just today but in her powerful contribution to last week’s debate. She is right to say that GPs are critical for supporting women during pregnancy, providing compassionate physical and mental health care and signposting relevant services, which is why continuity is important. I am happy to report to her that, in terms of mental health and bereavement support, a record number of women accessed a specialist community perinatal mental health service or maternal mental health service in the 12 months to July 2025, but clearly there is much more to do. We have announced a £36.5 million package for bespoke perinatal mental health and parent infant relationship support as part of the continuation of the family hubs and Start for Life programme, but as we heard in last week’s debate, although a lot has been done, there is so much more to do.

Answered
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Q2 Joshua Reynolds Lib Dem Maidenhead
NHS
Context

The MP highlighted the critical need for better recruitment and retention of staff in women’s health services, citing inadequate staffing as a key factor impacting safe maternity care.

Question

Safe maternity care depends on adequate staffing, and we on these Benches have been calling for better recruitment and retention of staff in women’s health services for a long time now. Can the Secretary of State outline what specific measures the Government are taking to address the shortage of midwives and specialist neonatal nurses across England?

Answer from Wes Streeting

We need to make sure that there is better staffing and that we have the right people in the right place. I should just caution the House, though, because in recent years there has been an increase in staffing but not a corresponding increase in the quality of care, so we have to make sure we are looking at this issue in a nuanced way. It is about having the right staff in the right place at the right time to deliver safe maternity and perinatal services, and that is exactly what we will do.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Secretary of State did not provide specific measures or timelines for recruitment but focused on the need for better staffing quality.

How: Nuanced Way

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Q3 Helen Morgan Lib Dem North Shropshire
NHS
Context

The MP expressed deep concern over the reduction in national service development funding for maternity care, citing this as a key factor contributing to ongoing issues across NHS trusts. She highlighted that critical actions from the Ockenden review are still not being implemented.

Question

Our maternity wards are in a state of crisis, with death and injury rising at an alarming rate. Sadly, this issue is not confined to Shropshire, and there has been a steady drumbeat of maternity scandals, with review after review finding consistent failings across the NHS. Can the Secretary of State explain to me and the many mothers I have met who have faced tragedy and unacceptable trauma why the Government are cutting national service development funding—ringfenced funding to improve maternity care—by more than 95% and why the immediate and essential actions from the Ockenden review into the failings at Shrewsbury and Telford hospital trust, which were to be implemented nationwide, are still not in place more than three years later?

Answer from Wes Streeting

We really are not; what we have done is devolve funding and responsibility to local level, which we think is the right thing to do. If I may say so, it is quite irresponsible to suggest that maternity funding and funding for services has been cut in the way that the hon. Lady describes. I think it causes unnecessary concern. We are taking into account the recommendations made by Donna Ockenden, as well as a wide range of other reviews and inquiries, as part of Baroness Amos’s rapid investigation, because I, like the hon. Member, want to see rapid improvement in maternity services across the country.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Secretary of State did not confirm or deny funding cuts but argued against such claims and emphasized a devolved approach to address these issues.

How: Irresponsible, Devolve

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