§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement about his plans for maternity services.
§ Mrs. Currie[holding answer 2 November 1987]: Our objectives in the maternity services are healthy babies born whenever possible at full term to healthy mothers. We aim to minimise the risks to babies by encouraging delivery in hospital preferably with access to the full range of facilities which are likely to be found only on district general hospital sites. We aim to support the services outside hospital both ante and post-natal by increasing the number of qualified staff and by other measures.
As a result there has been a fall in the perinatal mortality rate in England from 14.6 per thousand births in 1979 to 9.8 in 1985. During the same period the maternal mortality rate per thousand live and stillbirths declined from 0.11 to 0.7.
The detailed procedures and policies are as set out in the three maternity services advisory committee's report, published 1982–85, copies of which are in the Library.