Maternity Services Monthly Statistics March 2021, experimental statistics

In 2016, the Maternity Transformation Programme, led by NHS England, published 'Better Births' which set out the following vision:

'...for maternity services in England to become safer, more personalised, kind, professional and more family friendly; where every woman has access to information to enable her to make decisions about her care; and where she and her baby can access support that is centered on their individual needs and circumstances.'

The programme covers a number of specific policy areas for review, some of which are detailed below on this page.

Further information about the Maternity Transformation Programme is available.

The overarching aim is to ensure safer care for women based on a relationship of mutual trust and respect between women and their midwives.

The provision of care by a known midwife throughout the pregnancy, labour, birth and postnatal period can be associated with improved health outcomes for the mother and baby and also greater satisfaction levels.

Where a Continuity of Carer pathway has been agreed, this should be recorded and submitted via the MSDS.

Data by organisation on the following can be found in the measures file available for download:

• Number of women placed on a Continuity of Carer pathway by 29 weeks gestation
• Number of women in receipt of Continuity of Carer

As of the December 2020 publication, filtered data looking at placement of black and Asian women, and women from the most deprived decile of areas, has been published alongside the main metrics.

A numerator and denominator will be shown for all providers, but only providers that score 5% or more will be included in the national-level rate, as a basic test for data quality. Data Quality assessment criteria will be developed further in coming months

The Care Bundle provides detailed information for providers and commissioners of maternity care on how to reduce perinatal mortality across England. It brings together this information in five elements of care based on evidence and best practice. It is part of an aim, reiterated in in NHS Long Term Plan, to reduce stillbirth, maternal mortality, neonatal mortality and serious brain injury by 50% by 2025, as well as a reduction in preterm birth rate, from 8% to 6%.

The five elements are:

• Reducing smoking in pregnancy
• Risk assessment, prevention and surveillance of pregnancies at risk of fetal growth restriction (FGR)
• Raising awareness of reduced fetal movement (RFM)
• Effective fetal monitoring during labour
• Reducing preterm birth

More information can be found at NHS England. 

The Care Bundle’s five elements are supported by a series of process and outcome indicators. Where possible using MSDS, these indicators will be reported as part of this statistical series and will be released as soon as they are developed. The first set of indicators were published in the April 2021 (January 2021 data) release.