§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on pre-eclampsia and connected syndromes, with particular reference to the incidence of 359W the condition, foetal and maternal mortality, current research programmes and the dissemination of good practice among clinicians. [139530]
§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 23 November 2000]: The Department recognises the serious nature of both pre-eclampsia (hypertension of pregnancy) and its rarer complication, eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia can occur in up to 10 per cent. of pregnancies, and its severer condition, eclampsia, complicates 5 per 10,000 pregnancies. Eclampsia currently causes up to six maternal deaths a year in the United Kingdom and up to 140 foetal deaths in England and Wales.
The Department's Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths investigates all maternal deaths and publishes regular, updated guidelines on the management of eclampsia. It has also funded the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and Royal College of Midwives to produce guidelines for the management of antenatal care including the detection and treatment of pre-eclampsia. Apart from these guidelines the RCOG has also issued recent guidelines for the management of eclampsia. The Medical Research Council is funding several studies into the aetiology of this condition. The Department also supports the charity Action on Pre-Eclampsia through a core grant and funding for its project to supply information packs to health professionals and leaflets to pregnant women.