NHS England sets national maternal safety standards requiring early clot checks and faster treatment by 2027

NHS England has ordered every maternity service in England to meet a new set of clinical standards by March 2027, in a systemwide safety push centered on earlier checks for dangerous blood clots and faster treatment for women at highest risk. Under the new Maternal Care Bundle, all pregnant women should be offered a national venous thromboembolism, or VTE, self-assessment questionnaire at their first NHS care contact, with high-risk patients offered low molecular weight heparin within 72 hours.

The change, announced Thursday, is aimed at reducing avoidable maternal deaths after years of concern that mortality has not fallen as intended. NHS England said the five conditions targeted by the bundle account for 52% of maternal deaths, and thrombosis and thromboembolism remain the leading direct cause of maternal death in recent UK data.

The VTE requirement is the clearest new patient-facing standard. NHS England said the first NHS care contact should be interpreted broadly, including settings such as GP appointments, emergency departments, fertility clinics and early pregnancy units, as well as the point of a positive pregnancy test or first disclosure of pregnancy. Women found to be at high risk should be offered low molecular weight heparin, a blood-thinning drug used to prevent clots, and receive it within 72 hours.

The Maternal Care Bundle also sets national standards in four other areas: pre-hospital and acute care, epilepsy in pregnancy, maternal mental health and obstetric hemorrhage. Trusts are expected to ensure local specialist epilepsy teams are in place and that pregnant women with epilepsy have tailored care plans. The bundle also calls for consistent mental health screening, with referral to specialist perinatal services where needed, and earlier escalation thresholds with specialist obstetric and anesthetic involvement for postnatal hemorrhage.

This is a national clinical standard and operational requirement issued by NHS England, not a change in primary law. All NHS trusts providing maternity services, along with Integrated Care Boards that plan and fund local NHS services, are expected to fully implement all five elements by March 2027. Progress is to be reported to trust boards, with escalation to regional and national NHS England teams if delivery falls short.

NHS England said up to 5 million pounds has been allocated to trusts this year to buy equipment and support implementation. The standards also strengthen the role of 17 designated maternal medicine centers and regional networks that support women with pre-existing medical conditions or complications that arise during pregnancy.

The overhaul comes amid wider scrutiny of maternity safety following repeated inquiries and reviews into NHS services. NHS England is also rolling out the Maternity Outcomes Signal System, or MOSS, a near-real-time monitoring tool designed to spot early warning signs in maternity care.

Official figures underline the pressure for action. NHS England cited 252 maternal deaths in the UK in 2022-2024, compared with 257 in 2021-2023, drawing on MBRRACE-UK data. A January 2026 MBRRACE-UK brief said the maternal mortality rate in 2022-24 was 12.80 per 100,000 maternities, 20% higher than in 2009-11, meaning the long-standing ambition to halve maternal mortality by 2025 was not met. Reviewers also found that improvements in care could have made a difference in roughly 45% of maternal deaths in recent reporting periods. MBRRACE-UK data also show persistent ethnic and socioeconomic disparities, with Black women facing a substantially higher maternal mortality rate than white women.

“Every death during or after pregnancy is a tragedy especially when differences in care may have changed the outcome. … By setting out these clinical standards and holding hospitals to account we can significantly reduce avoidable deaths and prevent future tragedies,” Kate Brintworth, chief midwifery officer for England, said in the NHS England announcement.