Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries report, entitled Missing Voices, published in 2022, what steps he is taking to help ensure that pregnant women are included in the clinical trials of medicines that could be used to treat pre-eclampsia.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Its ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022-2027’ sets out how the NIHR will become a more inclusive funder of research and widen access to participation in clinical trials. The Strategy has been designed to address inequalities associated with the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, which include pregnancy and maternity. The NIHR has published guidance from the INCLUDE project, which aims to improve the inclusion of under-served groups, such as pregnant women. The NIHR has commissioned research into maternal and neonatal health, focusing on the safety of maternity services for women and babies. Later this year, we will also host a discussion with researchers, led by the Chief Scientific Adviser, to address the under-representation of women in research, including pregnant women.