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Maternity Services Monthly Statistics, Final May 2023, Provisional June 2023, experimental statistics

Official statistics

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Maternity Services Monthly Statistics, Final May 2023, Provisional June 2023, experimental statistics


Introduction of Provisional data

This is the third publication of Maternity Services Monthly Statistics to include provisional data, in addition to the final data reported in this publication series. Therefore, this publication includes three CSV files for provisional June 2023 data in addition to three CSV files of final May 2023 data. Provisional data is also included in the National Maternity Dashboard. However, counts of babies that were fully or partially breastfed at 6 to 8 weeks old (CQIMBreastfeeding6to8Weeks) are not available in the provisional data files or dashboard data, as this relies upon information from the Community Services Dataset (CSDS) which is not available within the required timeframe.

More information about this change to the publication can be found in the Maternity Services Monthly Statistics, Final March 2023, Provisional April 2023 publication.

 

24 August 2023 09:30 AM

Summary

This statistical release makes available the most recent monthly data on NHS-funded maternity services in England, using data submitted to the Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS).

This is the latest report from the newest version of the data set, MSDS.v.2, which has been in place since April 2019, and the third to include provisional data - see the above change notice for more information. The new data set was a significant change which added support for key policy initiatives such as continuity of carer, as well as increased flexibility through the introduction of new clinical coding. This was a major change, so data quality and coverage has initially reduced from the levels seen in earlier publications. We expect the completeness to continue to get better over time, and are looking at ways of supporting improvements.

Last month two new measures were included in this publication for the first time: Saving Babies Lives Element 2 Outcome Indicators i and ii. These measures are the proportion of babies below the 3rd birthweight centile born after 37 weeks gestation, and the proportion of babies born after 39 weeks gestation below the 10th birthweight centile. This data can be found in the Measures file available for download and further information on these new measures can be found in the accompanying Metadata file.

The data derived from SNOMED codes is being used in some measures such as those for smoking at booking and birth weight, and others will follow in later publications. SNOMED data is also included in some of the published Clinical Quality Improvement Metrics (CQIMs), where rules have been applied to ensure measure rates are calculated only where data quality is high enough. System suppliers are at different stages of developing their new solution and delivering that to trusts. In some cases, this has limited the aspects of data that could be submitted to NHS Digital.

To help Trusts understand to what extent they met the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) Maternity Incentive Scheme (MIS) Data Quality Criteria for Safety Action 2, we are producing a CNST Scorecard Dashboard showing trust performance against this criteria. This dashboard can be accessed via the link below.

These statistics are classified as experimental and should be used with caution. Experimental statistics are new official statistics undergoing evaluation. More information about experimental statistics can be found on the UK Statistics Authority website.

Please note that the percentages presented in this report are based on rounded figures and therefore may not total to 100%.


Highlights

Publication data files and suppression methodology

This publication contains three separate CSV files for the reporting months: one set for the final (May 2023) data and one set for the provisional (June 2023) data.

The contents of the three files are as follows:

  • CSV Data:  Aggregate figures based on the MSDS, for a standard set of metrics including the total numbers of booking appointments, deliveries, and babies born within the reporting month. Breakdowns are provided at several organisational and regional levels including National, Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS), and Provider (trust).
  • Data Quality:  Counts broken down by provider, showing the VODIM (Valid, Default, Invalid, or Missing) status of the records submitted for each data field within the MSDS. This file contains information about data quality only and should not be used to assess activity and outcomes. It reports on all the data provided at submission and will include information about records that are not included in the final analysis contained within the other two CSV files.
  • Measures:  Aggregate figures based on the MSDS, for several specific sets of metrics including but not limited to those for Clinical Quality Improvement Metrics (CQIM), Continuity of Carer (CofC), mother's body mass index (BMI), and the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle v2 (SBLCBv2). Breakdowns are provided at several organisational and regional levels including National, Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS), and Provider (trust). This file only contains CQIMBreastfeeding6to8Weeks figures for final data, not provisional data, as this metric requires Community Services Dataset (CSDS) records which are not available within the required timeframe.

This publication is accompanied by a Metadata file located on the MSDS guidance hub which contains more granular detail about the contents of the above files, including information about the definitions and logic used in their construction.

In accordance with the suppression methodology guidance for this dataset, rounding has been applied to all figures as follows: counts of zero are shown as zero, counts of 1-7 are rounded to 5, and all other counts are rounded to the nearest 5, with rates (where relevant) calculated from the rounded numerator and denominator numbers. There are four exceptions to this, for rare events, where rates are calculated from unrounded numbers but are not shown where the numerator is less than 8. This applies to CQIMTears, CQIMPPH, CQIMPreterm, and CQIMApgar.

Key Facts

121 successful submissions

For May 2023 data, 121 providers successfully submitted data with 121 submitting data on births.

This is all the submissions expected from NHS trusts.

56,510 bookings in May 2023

56,510 women with an antenatal booking appointment were reported in the period, of which 59% were within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.  

Of the trusts that submitted booking data, there were 33,195 bookings in which the babies' gestational age was in the 0-70 days range.

 

44,950 births reported

We received data relating to 44,320 deliveries of 44,950 babies.  

We have removed information about external data source counts of birth due to their lack of comparability with MSDS figures. We are investigating a more robust and appropriate replacement, and will reinstate a comparison when this work is complete.

 

50% of deliveries were spontaneous

50% of deliveries were spontaneous vaginal births, 10% had instrumental assistance, 17% were elective caesarean sections and 22% were emergency caesarean sections.  


Administrative Sources

Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS): this is a patient-level data set that captures information about activity carried out by Maternity Services relating to a mother and baby(s), from the point of the first booking appointment until mother and baby(s) are discharged from maternity services. This is a secondary uses data set, which re-uses clinical and operational data for purposes other than direct patient care.




Last edited: 24 August 2023 8:46 am