New process for notifying maternal and perinatal deaths in England - Submit a Perinatal Event Notification (SPEN)
Published on Thursday, 04 September 2025
Starting on 3 September 2025, rollout of the Submit a Perinatal Event Notification (SPEN) Portal began in select trusts in England. More trusts will be incorporated in the autumn period. This will change the process of notifying maternal and perinatal deaths to MBRRACE-UK for trusts in England as well as uploading documents requested for maternal deaths.
Important: With the implementation of SPEN, the only processes that will change is the initial notification for deaths in England and, for maternal deaths, how reporting trusts will upload requested documents. Users will still need to log into the MBRRACE-UK/PMRT system to complete surveillance as well as manage cases, conduct PMRT reviews, download reports, and use the Real Time Data Monitoring (RTDM) tool.
What is SPEN?
The 'Submit a Perinatal Event Notification' (SPEN) Portal is a new system developed by NHS England and designed to streamline the notification of maternal and perinatal deaths in England. Information submitted to the portal is automatically forwarded to the relevant national organisation based on the type of event. This change is intended to minimise the burden on trusts as each event will only need to be reported once.
The organisations using SPEN are:
- MBRRACE-UK (including neonatal deaths notified to CDOPs via Cascade)
- Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI)
- NHS Resolution Early Notification Scheme
When will your trust start using SPEN?
Onboarding to the SPEN system is phased. The first trusts began using the portal on the 3rd of September 2025 with additional trusts being incorporated until November 2025. Before your trust is onboarded, your Chief Executive will be notified and you will be provided with a comprehensive user guide to help you navigate the system and make the most of its features. As part of the onboarding, MBRRACE-UK will also separately notify all registered users in your trusts.
The portal will be managed by Arden & GEM CUS, on behalf of NHS England, who will provide support for any technical queries or issues you may encounter (agem.apps@england.nhs.uk). If you have difficulty with the MBRRACE-UK system, you can also contact us as usual via the 'contact us' button in the MBRRACE-UK/PMRT system or by emailing mbrrace.support@npeu.ox.ac.uk.
How does this change the notification of deaths to MBRRACE-UK (for trusts in England)?
Once your trust has been onboarded to SPEN, the SPEN portal should be used for notification of all maternal and perinatal deaths to MBRRACE-UK. The eligibility criteria, reporting requirements and deadlines for notification have not changed.
The data entered into SPEN will be automatically shared with MBRRACE-UK and held on our secure system as before. Neonatal death notifications submitted to MBRRACE-UK via SPEN, will continue to be automatically forwarded to the appropriate CDOP via the Cascade process.
Once a death has been notified, MBRRACE-UK users should log into the MBRRACE-UK system as usual to enter the surveillance information as well as manage cases, conduct PMRT reviews, download reports and use the Real Time Data Monitoring (RTDM) tool.
Will SPEN change how deaths are notified by Health Boards in other devolved nations?
No. SPEN will only be used by trusts in England. Maternal and perinatal deaths in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales should be reported to MBRRACE-UK using the same processes as before.
Will SPEN change other MBRRACE-UK processes?
Yes. For maternal deaths in England, the SPEN portal should be used to upload any requested documents. After a death is notified to MBRRACE-UK, your trust will receive an email from the maternal team with a list of requested documents and instructions on how to upload these documents to the online system.
Find out more
A range of helpful resources, including training webinars, system demonstrations and guidance for trusts in England, are available on the NHS Futures platform:
Submit a Perinatal Event Notification (SPEN) Service - Maternity and Neonatal Hub - Maternity
For all questions about SPEN, including technical support, user queries or training, please contact Arden & GEM at agem.apps@england.nhs.uk.
If you encounter any problems that Arden & GEM cannot resolve, or if you have difficulty with the MBRRACE-UK system, please contact us as usual via the 'contact us' button in the MBRRACE-UK/PMRT system or by emailing mbrrace.support@npeu.ox.ac.uk.