Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what measures are in place to ensure high uptake of foetal abnormality tests in the first trimester of pregnancy; and if he will make a statement.

The NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme (FASP) offers screening to all pregnant women in England in the first trimester to assess the risk of the baby being born with Down’s syndrome or a number of fetal anomalies (structural abnormalities with how the fetus has developed).

FASP is committed to supporting individual informed choice and has no measures in place to increase the uptake of screening for fetal anomaly. Through the development of high quality educational resources and information, the programme supports health professionals in being able to discuss screening choices with women and their partners so that they can decide, based on their own circumstances, whether or not screening is right for them.

The decision to have a screening test is always a personal choice and one which can only be made by the woman. Some women may choose not to be screened at all, or only for certain conditions and it is important that this choice is respected.