Tracey Crouch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the benefits of all expectant mothers being assigned one specific midwife for the duration of their pregnancy in ensuring (a) continued care, (b) correct information being received and (c) prevention of stillbirth.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The benefits of pregnant women being cared for by a named midwife are widely recognised. The latest available evidence for antenatal clinical practice was considered as part of the development of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) Quality Standard for antenatal care in 2012. Based on this evidence, NICE recommends that pregnant women are cared for by a named midwife who is responsible for providing all or most of her antenatal and postnatal care and the women’s coordinating care should they not be available.
The Care Quality Commission’s 2013 survey of women’s experiences of maternity care found that women who saw the same midwife each time tended to report more positive experiences of antenatal and postnatal care.
Health Education England is currently leading a project to explore the ambitions for personalised maternity care and consider different scenarios for how maternity services could be configured in the future, including the capability and capacity of the workforce.
