Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing interim guidelines permitting fetal painkiller in all interventions in utero.

The Department does not set guidelines for clinical practice. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists considered the issue of fetal pain and awareness in its guidelines ‘Fetal Awareness: Review of Research and Recommendations for Practice’. The Royal College is currently reviewing this guidance.