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Lord Patel (CB)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 20 January 2026

Debate

Maternal Mortality

Contribution

My Lords, a confidential inquiry into maternal deaths is a good indicator of the quality of maternity services. The fact that the rate has gone up from 9 per 100,000 in my time to 12.8 now suggests that there is a failure of maternity services. To use an example, 155 women who had a history of psychiatric problems—mental health problems—died within a year of delivering a baby. That compares to the total number of 611 maternal deaths. It is a significant number, and yet the specialist perinatal maternity health services that are supposed to look after women with a mental health history have failed. It should be a duty on ICBs to produce a plan, so that women with a mental health history are looked after and have a care plan during pregnancy.

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