Maternity Services Norman Lamb To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) maternity wards and (b) maternity ward beds there were in (i) England, (ii) each strategic health authority and (iii) each NHS trust in each of the last three years. Ann Keen Information on the number of maternity wards is not collected. A table showing the average daily number of available beds on maternity wards by both strategic health authority and national health service trust in England for each of the last three years has been placed in the Library. Norman Lamb To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the proportion of women preparing for birth in the NHS who received support from the same midwife throughout pregnancy in the latest period for which figures are available; (2) what estimate he has made of the proportion of women giving birth in the NHS who were offered a choice of (a) location of birth, (b) birth method and (c) method of pain relief during birth in the latest period for which figures are available. Ann Keen The commitments made in Maternity Matters that women will be cared for by a named midwife throughout pregnancy and have choice of location of birth, birth method and pain relief during birth are for delivery by December 2009. We have made it clear through the NHS Operating Framework that delivering the Maternity Matters commitments is a high priority for action. The Department is working with strategic heath authorities (SHAs) to ensure the choice commitments are available. Every SHA now has plans in place to ensure high quality, personal care with greater choice over place of birth and care provided by a named midwife. Norman Lamb To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the midwife to birth ratio was in (a) England, (b) each strategic health authority area and (c) each primary care trust area in the latest period for which figures are available. Ann Keen The midwife to birth ratio for each strategic health (SHA) authority in England is included in the following table. The data by PCT is not available. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |SHA |Current full time equivalent midwife: births ratio| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |North East |28.4 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |North West |29.1 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Yorkshire and Humber |34.1 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |East Midlands |40.1 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |West Midlands |32.9 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |East of England |39.8 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |London |34.0 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |South East Coast |36.5 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |South Central |40.3 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |South West |32.6 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |England |34.8 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Source:Census and Office for National Statistics, September 2008| | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Lamb To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent maternity support workers were in post in (a) the NHS, (b) each primary care trust and (c) each acute trust in each of the last five years. Ann Keen A table showing the number of maternity support workers within the national health service, by primary care trust and acute trust has been placed in the Library.