Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that pregnant women receive advice on their vitamin D intake.

Advice on vitamin D is available at NHS.UK and the social marketing campaigns Start4Life, Better Health and Healthier Families. This includes messaging aimed at people from ethnic minority groups with dark skin and pregnant women.

In December 2020, a marketing campaign raised awareness of the importance of taking a vitamin D supplement over the winter months. The campaign was promoted using social media, email programmes and websites. This included paid advertising focused on black, Asian and minority ethnic groups. Additionally, messages were delivered by black and Asian healthcare professionals on popular radio stations.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline focuses on how to increase supplement use to prevent vitamin D deficiency among specific population groups, including pregnant and breastfeeding women and people with dark skin. The guideline also includes recommendations for local authorities, National Health Service trusts, and voluntary and community organisations, as well as healthcare professionals such as general practitioners and midwives.

The Healthy Start scheme provides an opportunity for health professionals and others working with pregnant women and families to offer encouragement, information and advice on issues such as healthy eating, breastfeeding, and vitamins. As part of the scheme, pregnant women and new mothers can receive a supplement which contains folic acid, vitamin C and vitamin D.

To address maternal health disparities during the pandemic, the Chief Midwifery Officer also wrote to Local Maternity Systems to ensure that hospitals discuss vitamins, supplements, and nutrition in pregnancy with all women. While we have not taken specific steps to raise awareness of the impacts of vitamin D deficiency in educational facilities, nutrition and healthy eating is taught in schools as part of design and technology and Relationships, Sex Education and Health Education.