Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'd like to start by thanking Members who both tabled the debate on this again important and emotionally charged issue, but in particular to those who have contributed.

Stillbirth, pregnancy loss and the death of a baby are often events that we don't consider happening to us. They're things we hear about with other people. But they do happen to lots of people in our country and they will happen again in the future. I am committed to doing what we can and what we should do to reduce these distressing events.

When families suffer the loss of a baby, NHS Wales must ensure that bereavement services are available to provide support and the appropriate environment for families to spend time with their baby. The Welsh Government is already working with the maternity and neonatal networks in collaboration with health boards to ensure improved and standardised practice. 

In Wales, our response to stillbirth was strengthened following the National Assembly one-day inquiry into stillbirth held in 2013, and like a number of other Members I was on the committee during the course of that inquiry. The maternity network was set up as a recommendation from that. It focused on raising awareness of stillbirth, implementing measures to detect babies at risk and improving the health of mothers, which is a key risk factor. In addition, it included the implementation of a growth assessment programme right across Wales, with multiprofessional training and emergency drills and guidance for reduced foetal movements, and a perinatal mortality review process and learning to come from that. 

But stillbirths and pregnancy loss are often subjects that are not discussed. We've heard from Jayne Bryant about her recollection of that, but in particular Dai Lloyd's own experience. There are times you hear from Members in this Chamber things you did not know and would not have expected. It may have happened some decades ago, and for all the medical experience and life experience, I think it's still a remarkably brave thing to share in the Chamber about the real impact, and it brings home that that story is played out in other families each day within the country and it highlights why we need to improve what we can do. 

The safer pregnancy initiative led by the maternity network listened to families who wanted midwives and obstetricians to break the silence. With increasing complexity in pregnancy, including obesity, smoking and maternal health factors like diabetes, stillbirth has a risk of increasing prevalence not reducing. That's why the safer pregnancy initiative was so important, with the posters, the information wallets to carry hand-held notes, and to raise issues such as foetal movements, smoking, eating well, and seeing your midwife early to take advantage of the excellent midwife care that is available. A recent evaluation of that initiative has shown that women and healthcare workers welcomed the approach, and the network is already looking at ways to extend the message with a consistent approach. 

The Wales neonatal network was established in autumn 2010 and it aims to ensure the best possible outcomes for babies and mothers with more standardised care. It brings together NHS health professionals and partners from other organisations to oversee neonatal care against all-Wales neonatal standards. Those standards stipulate that each unit should ensure that timely access to psychological support is available to parents, and as we've heard in the opening, we still have some way to go before we get there on a consistent basis. Earlier this year, the neonatal and maternity networks commenced their plans to merge and become a joint network during next year, with revised governance and leadership arrangements. That merger will bring us opportunities to foster closer links across that broader pathway for mother and baby, and to provide new areas for joint working and improvement. 

The birth of a baby on the threshold of survival is uncertain in outcome, and Welsh Government has worked with our NHS and with families to develop guidance for professionals, to ensure that all babies receive individualised assessment. Where the birth of a baby on the threshold of survival is anticipated or occurs, maternity and neonatal teams should ensure that clinical assessments and individualised decisions are made about the ongoing management and support provided. And the use of that clinical judgment must take place in a sensitive partnership with families, who should be treated with respect and dignity.  

The death of a baby is a devastating experience for all those involved. Women and families deserve personal support and information following stillbirth and the death of a baby. There has been collaborative work already with third sector agencies such as the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, Sands, and 2 Wish Upon A Star, to help provide training, information for families and to develop improved environments, and to give opportunities to build future memories.

The positive point that we should take is that there is already excellence within our services here in Wales. Members may remember Laura Wyatt, who is a midwife in Cardiff and Vale. She is a recent UK midwife of the year in the Royal College of Midwives Awards, and that award came on the back of her nomination by bereaved parents, and it was the support that she gave to them and her support afterwards, as they had become parents, that was the point of the nomination—to recognise the difference that her work made. She is part of the bereavement sub-group of the maternity network, helping to develop those improved standards and helping to develop better environments for parents. 

Within maternity services now, all health boards have an identified bereavement lead to support families and enable them to spend time with their babies. So, I welcome the launch next week of the UK standards for bereavement care. The maternity network has linked with Sands throughout the development and pilot of the care pathway and standards. The maternity network has adopted these within the new all-Wales bereavement standards, so all maternity services have a bereavement pathway in place, and will review these following the UK pilot evaluation. 

Baby Loss Awareness Week gives us the opportunity to remember those babies who have died, and should help us to break the silence and start conversations about this important issue to make sure that Dai Lloyd's recollection of people deliberately avoiding having a conversation is not the way in which we will work and behave in the future. Providing safe and effective maternity and neonatal services for women and families will help to support every child and every family to have the best possible start. I'm committed to ensuring that families who suffer the loss of a baby have the best possible care and support from our health service here in Wales, and I'm also happy to commit to providing a future update to Members on the progress that we make following the passing of this motion.