Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that women and girls with epilepsy have access to pre-conception counselling around epilepsy medicines and contraception.

The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare is responsible for producing clinical guidance on contraception and has published UK Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (UKMEC).

UKMEC states that women and girls with conditions such as epilepsy, which expose them to increased risk as a result of unintended pregnancy and those using anti-epileptic drugs, should be advised to use reliable and effective contraception, such as long-acting reversible contraception methods, during treatment and for the recommended timeframe after discontinuation. The sole use of barrier methods and user-dependant methods of contraception, such as condoms and oral contraception, may not be the most appropriate choice for women and girls with epilepsy given the relatively higher typical-use failure rates.