Maternity Services Data Set
The national information standard for data relating to NHS-funded maternity services.
About this standard
- Publisher
- NHS England
- Also known as
- Also known as MSDS.
- Reference code
- DCB1513 Amd 10/2018
- Publication date
- 14/09/2018
- Status
- Active
Show definitions of statuses
Active. Active standards are stable, maintained and have been approved, assured or endorsed for use by qualified bodies.
Deprecated Deprecated standards are available for use and are maintained, but are being phased out, so new functionality will not be added.
Retired standards Retired standards are not being maintained or supported and should not be used.
- Standard type
- Collections
- Information standards
Show definitions of standard types
Collections. A Collection is a systematic gathering of a specified selection of data or information for a particular stated purpose from existing records held within health and care systems and electronic devices.
Extractions. An extraction is a type of collection that is pulled from an operational system by the data controller and transmitted to the receiver without additional processing or transcription by the sender.
Information standards. Information standards are agreed ways of doing something, written down as a set of precise criteria so they can be used as rules, guidelines, or definitions.
Technical Standards and specifications. Technical standards and specifications specify how to make information available technically including how the data is structured and transported.
- Contact point
- Please quote MSDS in the subject line.
Link to standard
- Documentation
- opens in a new tab
(opens in new tab)
- Applies to
- Any NHS Trust providing NHS-funded maternity services.
- Any independent sector provider of NHS-commissioned maternity services.
- NHS maternity pathway related services, e.g. obstetrics, midwifery, foetal medicine, radiology, pathology, gynaecology, neonatal.
- Commissioners of NHS-funded maternity services to ensure reporting/management information are updated in line with these changes.
- Impacts on
- Implementation impacts all health IT systems suppliers providing systems to the above providers; suppliers should work with their customers to determine necessary changes.
- Associated medias
- Conformance date
- 30/06/2019
- Effective from
- 01/05/2019
Topics and care settings
- Topic
- Data definitions and terminologies
- Reference data
- Care setting
- Maternity
Dependencies and related standards
- Dependencies
No known dependencies.
- Related standards
- SCCI1069 Community Services Data Set (CSDS)
- DCB0011 Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS)
- ISB0149-02 NHS Number for Secondary Care
- ISB0149 NHS Number
- SCCI0034 SNOMED CT
- SCCI0021 International Classification of Diseases
- ISB0092 Commissioning Data Sets (CDS)
- DCB0090 Health and Social Care Organisation Reference Data
- ISB1553 Read Clinical Terms Version 2 (Deprecated)
- ISB1552 Read Clinical Terms Version 3 (Deprecated)
- SCCI0075 Neonatal Critical Care Minimum Dataset
- ISB 1555 Birth Notifications
- DCB3017 Overseas Visitor Charging Category
- SCCI2112 FGM Risk Indication System (FGM RIS) - Local System Integration
Review Information
- Scope
- NHS Services
- Sponsor
Matt Tagney, Programme Director for the Maternity Transformation Programme, NHS England.
- Senior Responsible Officer
Matthew Jolly, National Clinical Director for Maternity and Women's Health, NHS England
- Business Lead
- Katharine Robbins, Information Analysis Lead Manager, NHS England.
- Approval date
- 12/09/2018
- Post Implementation review Date
- 30/04/2020
Legal basis and endorsements
- Legal authority
Section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012
This information standard is published under section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012
NHS standard contract
This collection is published under the NHS Standard Contract.
More information
Version 2.0 of the Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS) represents a significant change to the existing structure of the current information standard (v1.5). It brings the MSDS into line with the structure of other national data sets managed by NHS Digital. In addition, the changes cover:
- removal of the exemption for paper-based records
- introduction of SNOMED CT, enabling:
- more detailed diagnoses
- more detailed procedures, observations and findings
- more data about smoking status
- capture of scored assessments
- payment pathways for mothers with specific conditions or complex social factors
- introduction of data items to capture:
- continuity of carer
- personalised care plans
- intended and actual place of birth
- new values for overseas visitor charging category
- linkage to neonatal data
- data to monitor conformance with NICE clinical guidance.
Some of the new data items will allow the future retirement of overlapping collections once MSDS data achieves the right quality.
A number of the changes are in specific response to the National Maternity Review, which led to the publication of the Better Births report in February 2016. This report highlighted the need for maternity services in England to (a) become safer and more personalised and (b) provide better access to information for pregnant women. The publication of Better Births resulted in the establishment of the Maternity Transformation Programme, and this updated version of the data set forms part of the ‘Sharing Data and Information’ workstream of the Programme.
From 1 April 2019, providers must be able to collect the data specified in this release. From 1 May 2019, providers must begin to submit data as specified in this release, ensuring that by 30 June 2019 they have successfully made their first submission of Version 2.0 data.
Page last updated: 03 May 2024