Alicia Kearns MP has shared her personal experience of nearly dying from pulmonary emboli weeks after giving birth and called on the Government to act.
During today’s Ministerial Statement on National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, Alicia revealed this week last year she suffered from multiple pulmonary emboli in the weeks following the birth of her child. She paid tribute to Dr. Laura Stephens, whose swift action saved her life.
Alicia used her contribution to highlight a critical gap in maternal health guidance: despite blood clots being the leading cause of maternal death in the UK, there is currently no mention of the risk in any pregnancy pack given to mothers.
She called on the Health Secretary to meet with her to ensure blood clots are addressed as a priority within the Government’s National Action Plan on maternity safety.
In the Health Secretary’s response, he confirmed that him or his ministerial team would meet with Alicia to discuss the issue in further detail.
Alicia Kearns, Member of Parliament for Rutland and Stamford, said:
"A year ago, I came close to losing my life due to a number of pulmonary embolisms. I am only here because of the skills of Dr. Laura Stephens, who Addenbrookes Hospital told me was “exceptional” and had saved my life.
“Blood clots are the number one cause of maternal death in this country, and yet there is almost no effort to educate mums during our pregnancies and after giving birth about the risks. That must change.
“I will now work closely with the Health Secretary until the maternity national action plan does what it needs to on blood clots and pulmonary embolisms, so we can save women’s lives.”
James Murray MP, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said:
“I thank the Honourable Lady for sharing her experience and for raising the importance of this issue from her experience, but also for the benefit of maternity services more widely.
“I’m very happy for myself or ministerial team to meet with her to discuss this in detail, because it’s very important that that is part of the National Action Plan and our wider response.”
