Our response to the King’s Speech

Today, King Charles delivered the King’s Speech, to mark the State Opening of Parliament and the start of the parliamentary year. Read our response.

The overarching theme in the Labour Party’s manifesto was ‘change’, something which is central to our work at Tommy’s. Transformational change is needed for maternity and neonatal services now more than ever. We’re currently not on track to meet ambitions set by the previous government to halve rates of stillbirth and neonatal death by next year. Change cannot come soon enough for the families affected by baby loss every year.  

Today’s King’s Speech outlined 40 draft laws – known as ‘bills’ – which the Labour Government plans to introduce in the coming months. Unfortunately, the Miscarriage Leave Bill was not one of them. Legislation such as this could benefit one million people a year and would match Labour’s own aspiration of “never again neglecting women’s health”.  

What is the King’s Speech?

The King’s Speech sets out the Government’s legislative agenda for the following parliamentary session. The speech is written by the Government and traditionally read out by the reigning Monarch in the House of Commons.  

Earlier today, we also launched our Every Loss Counts campaign with Stylist, which calls on the government to reintroduce the Bill. Alongside Stylist and our passionate community and partners, we will continue to lobby the Government to bring in this this support for bereaved families.

Responding to the King’s Speech, Kath Abrahams, our Chief Executive said:

We were pleased that the Labour Party committed to improving maternity services and to closing the Black and Asian maternal mortality gap in their election manifesto. However, there is so much more we must do to make pregnancy and birth safe for all women and birthing people, and to save babies’ lives.  

“We hoped to learn today how the Government intends to deliver this change, but disappointingly, there was no mention of improving maternity care or preventing baby loss in the King’s Speech. Also absent was an acknowledgement of the radical overhaul of miscarriage care and policy which is so desperately needed.

“It’s unacceptable that miscarriages are not officially recorded. It’s unjust that women and birthing people still need to experience 3 consecutive miscarriages before they are referred for investigative tests and offered mental health support. We believe everyone should have access to good care, regardless of who you are or where you live.  

“We know today’s speech is just the start of this new Government’s work and we are hopeful for what the future will bring. We look forward to working with policymakers and healthcare professionals alike to make the Government’s plan to ‘build an NHS fit for the future’ a reality. But we first need the Government itself to commit to the resources and support needed to make the UK a safe place for everyone to be pregnant and have a baby.”