Petition · past parliament

Allow Partners to be present with expectant mothers during the entire Pregnancy

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

Allow partners to be with expectant mothers throughout the entire pregnancy, at all appointments, labour and birth.
Especially allow partners to be present during difficult times.
Because no woman should have to go through her pregnancy and labour without her partner. No partner should miss any scan or update regarding their baby.
It is a life changing, special and sometimes traumatic time and a woman needs her partner throughout the pregnancy, especially when something goes wrong.

Why it was rejected

It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.

Decisions about visitors are a matter for the NHS, not the Government or House of Commons.

Government guidelines confirm that couples in established relationships do not need to socially distance, so there is no restriction on pregnant women being supported by their partner during the full term of their pregnancy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do

With regard to antenatal appointments, scans, and the birth itself, on 5 June, the NHS’s suspension of hospital visiting was lifted. This means that visiting is now subject to local discretion by trusts and other NHS bodies. You should check with your maternity team and sonography unit for their policy on visitors attending antenatal appointments, including scans.

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you find out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Find out more: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/

Timeline

22 Sep 2020 Petition opened for signatures
29 Sep 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 29 Sep 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.