Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has plans for routine screening for vitamin B12 deficiency in pregnancy.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has not reviewed the evidence for screening pregnant women for vitamin B12 deficiency. Following a review of the UK NSC in 2014/15 the UK NSC is now carrying out a call for new screening proposals. Information on how to submit a screening proposal to the UK NSC is available on their website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-evidence-review-process/appendix-d-how-to-submit-a-proposal-to-the-uk-nsc

Information on vitamin B12 deficiency is available on the NHS Choices website and can be accessed using the following link:

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Anaemia-vitamin-B12-and-folate-deficiency/Pages/Symptoms.aspx