§ Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the number of women receiving Depo-Provera injections in each of the district health areas of west Yorkshire in each of the last five years.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThis information is not held centrally. The hon. Member may like to contact Sir Bryan Askew, chairman of Yorkshire regional health authority for further information.
§ Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines are issued to district health authorities with regard to the administration of Depo-Provera to women who have recently given birth.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyInformation about the use of Depo-Provera is set out in full in a product data sheet supplied to all doctors. The data sheet states that because of the risk of heavy or prolonged bleeding in some women, the drug should be used with caution in the puerperium 549W and that if the puerperal woman will be breast feeding, the initial injection of Depo-Provera should be delayed until six weeks post-partum.
Guidance about Depo-Provera is also contained in the "British National Formulary" which is published by the British Medical Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and issued twice yearly to all practising doctors.