NHS Maternity Statistics, 2024-25

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data in the files that accompany this report for the providers mentioned below should be used with caution.

• Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (RA9) did not submit any delivery or birth episodes due to a clinical systems issue.
• Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (RQM) submitted large numbers of delivery and birth episodes with the place of birth as a domestic address, which are excluded as this report is based on deliveries in NHS hospitals. Delivery and birth episodes for the Trust are therefore undercounted, and all breakdowns for the Trust in the provider level analysis file represent only a subset of delivery episodes.
• University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (RK9) and Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (RCD) have an unusually high ratio of birth episodes to delivery episodes, and missing values for delivery and birth episode specific data fields. This is due to the providers submitting all or most data as general episodes and being converted to delivery and birth episodes only by HES data processing. This appears to result in undercounting delivery episodes.
• Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RTK), East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (RXR), James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RGP) and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (RJL) have missing values for delivery and birth episode specific data fields. This is due to the providers submitting all or most data as general episodes and being converted to delivery and birth episodes only by HES data processing. 
• The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (RQW) submitted fewer delivery episodes than in previous years.
• Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (RTP) and East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (RDE) have an unusually high ratio of birth episodes to delivery episodes. This is due to additional general hospital episodes submitted by these providers being converted to birth episodes in HES data processing based on the admission method, episode order and date of birth fields.
• Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (RJ1) has an unusually high ratio of birth episodes to delivery episodes. Compared to previous years, the number of birth episodes may be overstated.
• University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RRV) has missing values for birth episode specific data fields. This is due to the provider submitting all or most data as general episodes and being converted to birth episodes only by HES data processing. 
• Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RTH) submitted fewer birth episodes than delivery episodes for part of the financial year.

When using data tables showing breakdowns by gestation length, please review the notes included below those tables regarding data quality issues affecting this field for a small number of trusts.

Detailed information about HES data quality of data items, and completeness of provider data submissions is available.

A data quality statement reporting against the European Statistical System (ESS) quality dimensions and principles is published with this report.

Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust (REP) had a missed submission for 1 of the 12 reporting months in 2024-25. Therefore their overall annual figures may not be fully reflective of the full year’s activity. 

The following providers had fewer MSDS records than expected for some reporting months in 2024-25. Therefore their overall annual figures may not be fully reflective of the full year’s activity. The extent to which the annual data is affected will vary depending on the number of months and whether relevant births and deliveries were included in submissions for later months.

• 5 reporting months with fewer records - The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (RQW)
• 3 reporting months with fewer records - London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust (R1K), Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (RAL)
• 2 reporting months with fewer records - Barts Health NHS Trust (R1H)
• 1 reporting month with fewer records - Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RP5), Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RVR), Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RBT), Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (RJL), St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RJ7)

Detailed information about data quality of MSDS data items, and completeness of provider data submissions can be found in the Excel data quality files published alongside this report.

In April 2019, the MSDS transitioned to a new version of the dataset. This is the sixth publication of data from MSDS v2.0, therefore MSDS data from 2019-20 onwards are not directly comparable to earlier years.

For trusts that merged during the year, MSDS annual data reports the combined data under the successor organisation code and name following the merger. Since 2021-22, HES annual data reports the data under the organisations that were in place at the time of the activity.

North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust (RAP) was acquired by Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust in January 2025. In this report:

• All 2024-25 MSDS data for both trusts is reported under the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
• In the HES provider level data, activity for North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust for the months prior to the merger is reported separately.

Percentages included in this publication, unless otherwise stated, are based on total ‘knowns’, e.g. the percentage of caesareans is based on all deliveries with a known method of delivery, excluding those with an unknown method of delivery. Where there is a high percentage of ‘unknowns’ for a given clinical practice or outcome (these are identifiable in all tables), the reported figures for ‘knowns’ should be treated with caution. Given the fluctuation in the number of ‘unknowns’ over time, it should be noted that all reported changes may be the result of changes/improvements in recording practice rather than changes in clinical practice or clinical outcomes.

For information on specific fields, refer to the HES data dictionary and MSDS Technical Output Specification.

In order to prevent disclosure of identities or information about service users, figures have been rounded.

For MSDS data, all figures between 1 and 7 have been rounded to 5, other figures have been rounded to the nearest 5. Percentages have been calculated from rounded figures.

For HES data, national figures are unrounded. For sub-national data, values between 1 and 7 are shown as a * in the tables and other values are rounded to the nearest 5. Percentages have been calculated from rounded figures.