Our urgent priorities for the new Labour Government
The election result has formally been called and Labour are set to form the new Government. While Keir Starmer and his cabinet have a lot to focus on over the next 5 years, we’re here to make sure that reducing pregnancy and baby loss and tackling inequalities are high on their list of priorities.
As part of ongoing work with the Sands & Tommy’s Joint Policy Unit, we’ve identified the 5 key steps they’ll need to take to deliver on these aims.
Renew the national maternity targets
We’re not on track to meet the targets previously set out, and around 1,000 more lives could have been saved each year if the ambition target was met. Labour must commit to renew and enhance these ambitions, with a focus on making the UK the safest place in the world to have a baby
Eliminate inequalities in pregnancy and baby loss
In 2021, the difference in stillbirth rates between babies of Black and White ethnicities were the highest in 5 years and there are stark and persistent inequalities in baby loss, particularly by ethnicity and deprivation. We welcome Labour’s manifesto pledge to set a target to close the Black and Asian maternal mortality gap. Now the new government must make a clear commitment to eliminating inequalities, underpinned by a comprehensive programme of research and improvement.
Deliver a fully funded workforce
In 2022, 63% of midwives felt unwell in the last 12 months due to stress and nearly 1/3 of NICU shifts are not sufficiently staffed. Labour’s pledge to train thousands of new midwives is a positive step, and they must ensure commitments made in the Workforce Plan are backed by adequate funding. They should also expand the wider maternity and neonatal workforce so that nobody is without the care they need.
Put in place a system that supports safe care
50% of services were rated ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ in 2022-23 and we are still not learning lessons when babies die. Labour have promised ‘robust’ support to improve NHS trusts that are failing on maternity care, but it’s crucial that the government moves from supporting individual services which are deemed to be outliers towards a comprehensive national approach, which addresses the fundamental issues and puts in place the key elements of a safe system
Provide the best possible support throughout pregnancy and following loss
Right now, there are too many gaps in the support available after baby loss. We’re calling on Labour to allocate funding to ensure services can provide the best possible support and care.
We look forward to working with the new Government to make pregnancy and birth safe for everyone in the UK.
We were pleased that the Labour Party pledged to support trusts to improve maternity care and tackle inequalities in their election manifesto, but there is so much more we must do across the UK to make pregnancy and birth safe for all women and birthing people and to save babies’ lives.
“In some areas, progress towards national goals has stalled and in others, outcomes are getting worse. Despite the dedication and commitment of so many clinicians, researchers and healthcare teams working across maternity and neonatal services, that failure is costing lives.
“That’s why, as the leading pregnancy research charity saving babies’ lives, Tommy’s is calling on the next government to put this issue at the top of its agenda, by committing the necessary resources and support to drive forward improvements as quickly as possible throughout the UK.”