Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many babies born in England between January 2012 and December 2022 had neural tube defects; and how many pregnancies were terminated in that period because of neural tube defects.

In the period January 2012 to December 2021, there were 8,052 mentions of congenital malformations of the nervous system under Ground E abortions for residents of England and Wales within both nations. Information on neural tube defects is published by number of mentions rather than number of pregnancies terminated, and it is possible for a pregnancy to have more than one neural tube defect. Data for January to December 2022 is not yet available and is due to be published in January 2024.

Data from the National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Disease Registration Service shows that between 2015 and 2021, there were 3,124 babies born in England who had neural tube defects.