Infant Mortality: Surrey Heath
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of mental health support available to parents who have experienced baby loss in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth
Spending on specialist community perinatal mental health services continues to increase every year. The latest National Health Service figures show that integrated care boards spent £212 million in 2024/25, which is an increase of £18 million over the £194 million spent in 2023/24.
We recognise that more support for parents is needed and are making steady improvements. Bereavement services operating seven days a week are being set up in every area in England to support women and families who experience pregnancy loss or neonatal death. Additionally, in February 2024, the Department launched the baby loss certificate service, which is a voluntary scheme to enable parents who have experienced any pre-24-week pregnancy loss to record and receive a certificate to provide recognition of their loss if they wish to do so.
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