Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to introduce blanket screening of pregnant women for Group B Streptococcus in the context of high prevalence in new born babies; and what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of other countries' approaches to screening for Group B Streptococcus.

We await evidence from the GBS3 trial which is comparing universal screening for Group B Streptococcus (GBS) against usual risk-based care. This clinical trial, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, will examine the effectiveness of two screening tests compared to usual care in 80 hospitals in England, Scotland and Wales. The UK National Screening Committee will review the trial’s findings, expected in 2024, before a recommendation is made.

As in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and New Zealand have a risk-based prevention programme for GBS. Comparisons of levels of GBS infection in countries which screen against those using a risk-based approach are difficult, as the circumstances and organisation of antenatal, postnatal care and labour vary between countries.