Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential benefits for public health and the economy of introducing a birth defects prevention month and a folic acid awareness week similar to those operating in the United States of America.

We do not have any plans to introduce a birth defects prevention month and a folic acid awareness week similar to those operating in the United States of America.

In November 2015 the Government announced a national ambition to halve by 2030 the rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth. On 7 March 2016 we launched Sign up to Safety - ‘Spotlight on Maternity,’ a guidance document that asks all trusts with maternity services to commit publically to placing a spotlight on maternity and to contributing towards achieving the Government’s national ambition.

We are looking at all aspects of preconception health to make sure every child gets the best start in life.