DURING Baby Loss Awareness Week, I was honoured to speak in the House of Commons and to represent people across Truro and Falmouth who have experienced the devastating loss of a baby. This is an important and deeply personal issue for many people.

The debate was a space to remember, commemorate, and raise awareness. Lots of families are affected by baby loss, and mine is no exception. As MPs, we learn from the stories shared by our constituents and from our own experiences, and both help us push for change.

I was pleased that the Health Secretary attended the debate throughout and was able to take away those stories to make improvements for the future. I also want to pay tribute to my predecessor, Cherilyn Mackrory, who spoke movingly during her time in Parliament about her own experience of baby loss and co-chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Baby Loss.

We are fortunate to have an excellent bereavement team at Treliske, but there are still areas where support can be improved. Bereaved parents have told me about the difficulty of accessing ongoing mental health support after the loss of a baby. Many have also spoken about how partners can feel overlooked during the grieving process, as though their thoughts and feelings are not taken into consideration and do not matter.

Drawing directly on constituents' experiences, I was able to highlight the need for improved training for coroners’ courts in dealing with parents who have suffered the tragic loss of a baby. A change that would help to make the whole process less difficult for grieving families.

In this debate I was also able to raise concerns about delays in receiving a pathologist’s report following the death of a baby. The lack of pathologists is a common issue and can mean long waits for reports, while coroners' inquests can take place years after a baby’s death. For those seeking understanding and closure, these delays can add significantly to an already painful experience.

In 2025 this government launched a national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services, led independently by Baroness Amos, with the aim of improving quality and safety. Alongside this, a new national taskforce was launched to develop long-term reforms to improve care for women, babies and families across the country.

Initiatives such as the Saving Babies' Lives Care Bundle, the Maternal Care Bundle, the Avoiding Brain Injury Programme, and an NHS Perinatal Equity and Anti-Discrimination Programme are working to reduce harm and tackle inequalities. And it is encouraging to see the Government introduce two weeks of unpaid leave for those who experience pregnancy loss. However, what was clear from the debate is that there is still a long way to go to get to the necessary improvements and we must keep pushing to get there.

I want to recognise the charities that are local to us in Cornwall and have helped families through these difficult times. Like Luna's Fund, which supports parents across Devon and Cornwall, 2Wish, which helps families affected by the sudden death of a child, and the newly established Bran's Library, which provides picture books to bereaved families.

We must continue to talk openly about baby loss and strive to make sure that bereaved families receive the care and support they need.