DARLINGTON'S MP appeared in Parliament to call for greater support for people who suffer tragic baby losses.

Peter Gibson MP appeared in the debate on Tuesday which discussed the Government's national ambition to reduce baby loss.

Almost 60,000 babies were born prematurely in 2019 with one in five pregnancies ending in miscarriage.

"The effects of miscarriage, stillbirths and neonatal deaths are devastating for parents with impacts that last a lifetime,"Mr Gibson said. 

Speaking to MPs, he shared the experiences of three Darlington constituents who have suffered baby loss. 

He said: "I recently met with Claudia and her husband Andy who have suffered two late-term losses. 

"The first at 20 weeks pregnancy and more recently at 18 weeks. Whilst Claudia thankfully was entitled to statutory sick leave Andy was not and had to negotiate with his employers to take time off. ."

"I'm thankful to the two of them for meeting with me to talk about their experience, the impact of those losses and the challenges they have faced."

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Angela, a constituent, also contacted Mr Gibson to share her own experiences.

Mr Gibson added: "Angela suffered two ectopic pregnancies and two miscarriages and now feels that her chances of having the honour of giving birth is something she will never experience. 

"Angela described to me that she feels crushed and would like to see more support for people in her position that she had available to her in the first years of the early 2000s. 

The Darlington MP called for improved safety, care and training to help limit the number of baby losses in the UK. 

"As the son of an NHS community midwife I know the care, dedication and effort that our amazing midwives put into their vocation," he added. 

"Just like the incredible team of midwives serving my community in Darlington. 

"These people are on the frontline of safely bringing new life into the world. But all to often instead of bringing new life they're at the side of parents who have suffered the worst loss imaginable.

"We must ensure that our midwives are provided with the skills to provide the most appropriate care to parents at their time of bereavement."

The debate was led by Conservative MP Cherilyn Mackrory who shared her own experience of baby loss to MPs in 2020. 

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Mr Gibson told the debate: "It is essential that the government continues with its 2015 ambition to reduce the rate of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths in England by 50 per cent by 2030. 

"I welcome the provision in the NHS long term plan to bring forward this ambition to 2025. To this end, only this month on July 4 the government announced that it was making an additional £2.45 million available for NHS maternity staff to improve safety in care settings."

"Improving maternity safety, delivering personalised care and improving training will all help to improve the future outcomes of future expectant parents across the UK and I sincerely hope that a future review of bereavement leave can be extended to those parents who suffer a miscarriage in the second trimester of their pregnancies. 

"I look forward to hearing from the minister as to what more the government is doing to achieve our national ambition to reduce baby loss."