Seòmar agus comataidhean

NHS boards do not routinely collect this information, however, we would expect NHS boards to hold this information on an individual record.

NHS boards advise that this information is not collected routinely. The terms medical intervention and low risk require further definition.

This information is not collected or held centrally for parts (a) and (b), however, we would expect NHS boards to record this information on an individual basis.

With regard to part (c), General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) confirm that:

(i) 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 there were 868 births

(ii) 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 there were 888 births.

These figures apply to non-institution births, most of which are home births. There are however occasions where births occur elsewhere such as en-route to hospital or in a relatives home.

The term medical intervention and low risk require further definition. Where complications do arise, patients are transferred to an obstetric unit.

NHS boards advise that this information is not collected routinely. The terms medical intervention and low risk require further definition.

The information requested has been presented in the following table.

NHS Board	Consultant Led Units	Community Maternity Units
Ayrshire and Arran	1	1
Borders	1	0
Dumfries and Galloway	1	0
Forth Valley	1	0
Fife	1	0
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	4	3
Grampian	2	4
Highland	2	7
Lanarkshire	1	0
Lothian	2	0
Tayside	1	4
Orkney	0	1
Shetland	0	1
Western Isles	1	1

 

Many of our consultant led units have alongside them midwife led birthing facilities and all NHS boards offer women the option of a home birth where appropriate.

Our national maternity policy, A Framework for Maternity Services in Scotland, outlines our commitment to offering women choice in relation to place of birth. Principles 10 and 11 of this framework make specific reference to our expectations that services offer one-to-one care in established labour and support women''s right to choice around birth options. We expect all NHS boards to plan maternity services to meet the needs of their local population and ensure that care is in line with evidence around best practice guidance and our national pathways. There are currently 22 community maternity units and 18 consultant-led units across NHS Scotland. In addition, many of our consultant-led units have alongside midwife-led birthing facilities and all NHS boards offer women the option of home birth.

Our Nursing and Midwifery Workload and Workforce Planning Programme collected data across Scotland between June 2007 and August 2008, using Birthrate Plus and Professional Judgement. Although limitations were noted in the tools, this data collection demonstrated a good relationship between current budget whole-time equivalents of midwives and the output of the tools. This data is being used by NHS boards to inform local workforce planning and one of our key aims is to ensure that provision of one-to-one care in established labour.

The government is giving careful consideration to the recommendations made by Lord Cullen in his report on the Review of the Fatal Accident Inquiry Legislation.

Many of Lord Cullen''s recommendations have practical implications for the Scottish Court Service, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and the government will liaise closely with these bodies in identifying how the recommendations should be implemented.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-29347 on 7 December 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

At present this information is not collected or held centrally.

However, through our Keeping Childbirth Natural and Dynamic (KCND) programme, we are working in partnership with all NHS boards to offer women early, seamless access to maternity services through attending a midwife as their first professional contact in pregnancy. We have also recently introduced pathways for maternity care, which facilitate robust risk assessment in early pregnancy and timely intervention for women and families. These pathways outline the usual schedule of antenatal visits for healthy women who are first-time and previous mothers across NHS Scotland. Also, through evaluation of KCND we will be collecting data on the number of antenatal visits for all women within every NHS board.