To ask the Minister of Health to produce guidance, through the Public Health Agency for Health and Social Care Trusts, to ensure there is equitable provision of maternity services that reminds all health providers that pregnancy and birth experience needs to be bespoke to each patient and not a forced standard approach.

It is already the case that women receive bespoke care during pregnancy and birth. In line with Departmental policy, Health and Social Care Trusts consider prospective parents as partners in maternity care and provide all relevant information, in appropriate formats, to enable them to make informed choices about what is best for them and their baby.

In terms of visiting to maternity services, the guidance recommends that the birth partner will be facilitated to accompany the pregnant woman to the dating scan, early pregnancy clinic, anomaly scan, Fetal Medicine Department, when admitted to individual room for active labour- this will be determined by the midwife - and birth.

The full visiting guidance provides all detailed recommendations and should still be referred to for clarity. The guidance will be aligned with the Alert Level in place at any particular time, and will take account of a facility’s individual circumstances. The decision to permit visitors into a facility on a day to day basis will still lie with the midwife in charge. This decision will be based on a risk assessment which will ensure safety of patients, staff and the visitor.

I do acknowledge that these restrictions do not permit visiting to the extent we would hope for in usual circumstances. However the continuing high rates of COVID-19 transmission and hospital admissions are continuing to place the healthcare system under significant pressure. In these circumstances visiting restrictions help to mitigate the rising rate of infections, hospital admissions and deaths, particularly as expectant mothers are included in the list of people at risk.