§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many, and what percentage of, antenatal clinics provide crèche facilities for children of women attending; and if he has any plans to make such facilities generally available.
§ Mr. John PattenThe information requested is not collected centrally. It is for health authorities to decide what facilities are required locally.
§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what schemes exist to assist women with transport to and from ante-natal clinics; and if he has any information about the percentage of women who should attend such clinics but do not: make or keep appointments because of transport difficulties.
§ Mr. John PattenSuch information is not held centrally. We expect unit managers to take local factors, such as the availability of public transport, into account when making and reviewing arrangements for hospital antenatal clinics. The Maternity Services Advisory Committee, in its first report, suggested a number of ways in which ante-natal services could be reorganised to improve their uptake, and we have commended these recommendations to health authorities for action.
§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of pregnant women attended ante-natal classes in the years 1974 to 1984; and what plans he has to encourage and enable more women to do so.
§ Mr. John PattenThe information is not available in the precise form requested; The nearest available information—on classes run by health authorities— is given in the table. A proportion of pregnant women attend classes run by GPs for their own patients, and a considerable number attend classes provided by voluntary organisations such as the National Childbirth Trust. We 349W hope that the suggestions of the Maternity Services Advisory Committee will help increase uptake of health services ante-natal classes.
Number of women who attended ante-natal mothercraft and relaxation classes run by health authorities per hundred births Year *Number 1974 19 1975 20 1976 21 1977 23 1978 25 1979 25 1980 26 1981 30 1982 29 1983 31 1984 † * Numbers of women who were pregnant in each year are not available. ‡ Not available until after end of year.
§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what attempts his Department has made to find out from women who attend ante-natal clinics what improvements they would like to see in ante-natal classes; and what action he is prepared to take to implement their suggestions;
(2) what attempts his Department has made to find out from pregnant women who do not attend ante-natal classes their reasons for non-attendance.
§ Mr. John PattenThe views of pregnant women on the adequacy of antenatal classes and on ways to improve them, were represented to the Maternity Services Advisory Committee through its lay members, and taken into account in the advice given in its two reports to date. We have commended those reports to health authorities for action and expect them to identify and remedy any problems there might be locally in the provision and take up of ante-natal services. Maternity services liaison committee, which the MSAC recommended should be set up in each district, have an important role to play in voicing the views of users of the service and suggesting where improvements may be made.