The House of Lords Preterm Birth Committee have published the report ‘Preterm birth: reducing risks and improving lives’, which is the biggest cause of neonatal death and illness in the UK. In 2023 in England, 8.1 per cent of all births were preterm, which is between 24 and 36 weeks completed gestation. Black and Asian women in England are also much more likely to give birth prematurely compared to their white counterparts (8.5 and 8.3 per cent respectively, compared to 7.7 per cent of white women’s live preterm births).
The report by the House of Lords acknowledges that the prediction and prevention of preterm birth is challenging due to the wide range of factors that can cause a risk of preterm birth, as well as acknowledging the historically low performance of the NHS and British public services. The report thus recommends several changes for the maternity and neonatal system to consider, which the government is willing to take on board in their plan to restore the public health service to its former glory.
Already, several government schemes exist to prevent or reduce the negative outcome of preterm births, such as the updated version of the Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle (care bundle), 14 maternal medicine networks to offer specialist advice to women with high-risk medical conditions, and local equity and equality action plans. Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) launched a £50 million challenge fund in March 2024, which challenged researchers and policymakers to brainstorm new ideas to tackle maternity disparities and poor pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth.
The House of Lords Preterm Birth Committee have highlighted several recommendations the government could make, which the government have formally responded to in a response published today, 14th January 2025. The first recommendation asks the government to set out its plans to revise the current national maternity safety ambition, with a particularly emphasis on targets that will encourage efforts to reduce the incidence and impact of preterm birth, and the government responded pledging to overhaul their maternity safety ambitions following the expiry of the previous government’s plans this year. The government stresses a particularly focus on stark racial equalities in maternity care across the UK.
Another recommendation focuses on how the government will ensure all women have access to the appropriate information and advice on pregnancy planning and preconception health, and the government response includes a stress on ensuring women who are more at risk of adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes, such as ethnic minority and lower-income women, receive targeted support and advice.
The House of Lords Preterm Birth Committee further recommended that the government and NHS England meet the commitments to develop the maternity and neonatal workforce set out in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, and the government in turn emphasises their new 10 Year Health Plan to reform the NHS, which includes guidance and reform for staff and their communities.
For further information about all nine recommendations the House of Lords have made for the government on the subject of reducing preterm birth and its associated risks, click here.
