Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department's most recent policy framework is concerning the entitlement of women undergoing screening and diagnosis testing for foetal anomaly during pregnancy to full and informed consent, to proper support in the event of a positive result, and to their right to refuse screening or testing if they so wish.

The NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme (FASP) recommends that screening is offered to all pregnant women in England to assess the risk of the baby being born with Down’s syndrome or a number of fetal anomalies (structural abnormalities with how the fetus has developed).

Where a screening test result suggests there is a higher risk of a baby being born with Down’s syndrome, or a structural fetal anomaly is suspected, a further discussion with an experienced and knowledgeable health professional is recommended to discuss the offer of diagnostic testing. When the woman wishes to take up diagnostic testing, either a chorionic villus sampling or an amniocentesis (dependant on the gestation of the pregnancy) will be performed. Where a fetal abnormality is confirmed following diagnostic testing, the programme recommends referral to an appropriate health professional for further discussion regarding the options for pregnancy management.

FASP aims to ensure that there is equal access to uniform and quality-assured screening across England and that women are provided with high quality information so they can make an informed choice about their screening options and pregnancy.

The UK National Screening Committee and FASP produce a number of leaflets and resources for both women and health professionals that clearly explain the screening options available and support the opportunity for women to make an informed choice as to whether to accept or decline the screening offered.