The NHS has unveiled new clinical standards for maternity services in England aimed at reducing the number of women who die during or after pregnancy, with measures focused on earlier risk checks, faster specialist input and stronger safety oversight.
Announced on 23 April 2026, the package requires every maternity service in England to meet updated standards intended to address leading causes of maternal death, including blood clots, strokes, cardiac disease, suicide, sepsis, obstetric haemorrhage and pre-eclampsia. The NHS says full rollout by March 2027 is expected to reduce deaths linked to those conditions, which account for 52% of maternal deaths.
Earlier screening and faster treatment for high-risk pregnancies
Under the new approach, all pregnant women will receive an early risk assessment for venous thromboembolism before their first antenatal appointment. Women identified as high risk should be offered thromboprophylaxis within 72 hours. The NHS also said women with epilepsy will have access to a local specialist team and a tailored plan to help control seizures, including timely access to medications that are safe to use in pregnancy.
Maternal mental health is also being put under closer routine review. Women will be assessed with a consistent set of questions and referred to specialist NHS perinatal mental health services if needed. The move comes against the backdrop of maternal suicides remaining the leading cause of maternal death occurring between 6 weeks and 1 year after the end of pregnancy between 2022 and 2024, with psychiatric causes accounting for 33% of deaths in that period.
More support in maternity units and ambulance handovers
The standards also include earlier escalation for women experiencing haemorrhage or significant bleeding after birth, alongside upgrades such as direct telephone lines to maternity staff to help ambulance crews transfer pregnant women to labour wards more quickly. The NHS said up to £5 million has been allocated to trusts this year to buy equipment and implement the maternal care bundle.
In addition, the Maternal Outcomes Signal System, described by the NHS as a digital tool that analyses data recorded by maternity teams, will be used to spot emerging safety issues more quickly. The NHS said it will publish findings from the system every six months so that trusts can act on concerns flagged by the data.
The plan also strengthens the role of 17 maternal medicine centres across England. These specialist hubs are intended to provide faster access to expert care for women with pre-existing conditions or complications that arise during pregnancy, with multidisciplinary teams including obstetric physicians leading the service.
NHS England said the changes were developed with frontline clinicians, women and families, and partner organisations including Royal Colleges, regulatory bodies, professional societies and charities. The latest official data cited by the NHS showed 252 maternal deaths from 2022 to 2024, compared with 257 between 2021 and 2023, while research suggested improvements in care may have made a difference in almost half of all maternal deaths recorded from 2021 to 2023.
Kate Brintworth, Chief Midwifery Officer for England, said the changes were designed to make sure serious medical problems are identified earlier and that hospitals are held to account more consistently. The NHS said progress against each standard must be reported to trust boards, with escalation to regional and national level where local delivery falls short.
