Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the (a) funding and (b) amount of research undertaken on pregnancy.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Since 2018, approximately £68 million has been invested into research on pregnancy across NIHR’s research programmes. No assessment of the adequacy has been made and it is not usual practice for the NIHR to ringfence funds for particular topics or conditions. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including pregnancy.