PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Maternity Services (5 September 2024)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues on questioning patients on (a) pregnancy and (b) risk of pregnancy before (i) scans and (ii) operations.

Asked by:
Dr Caroline Johnson (Conservative)

National Health Service trusts are directed to follow clinical National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance when ensuring the delivery of safe and effective healthcare and would refer to this prior to an operation.

Questions asked of patients prior to a scan will depend upon the imaging modality, with ultrasound offered routinely as a part of antenatal care. Similarly, low field strength MRI is safe to use in pregnancy.

Imaging using ionising radiation, for instance x-rays or computed tomography scans, should be used with more caution and should prompt questions about whether a woman is pregnant. Clinicians will assess risks of ionising radiation against the benefits for maternal health. The RCE-9 report provides advice on protection of pregnant women during diagnostic medical exposures to ionising radiation. NHS England also provides guidance to support clinical teams in breast screening services, to deliver safe clinical practice in compliance with the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposures) Regulations.

NHS guidance also advises women to inform their healthcare provider that they are pregnant prior to an x-ray.

Answered by:
Karin Smyth (Labour)
18 September 2024