Members' Business: Improving Diagnosis of Pre-eclampsia

That the Parliament understands that the condition pre-eclampsia affects at least 6% of all pregnancies in Scotland, and that 70% of women admitted to hospital with suspected pre-eclampsia do not actually have the condition, which it considers results in cost implications for the healthcare system and unnecessary stress and inconvenience for the women and families involved; further understands that, in 2016, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) published guidelines recommending blood testing of placental growth factor (PlGF), stating that PlGF-based testing "can help rule out the condition in women presenting with suspected pre-eclampsia", and that this testing is currently being implemented in NHS England; believes that PlGF-based testing is not routinely used in Scotland despite repeated calls for its implementation by the charity, Action on Pre-eclampsia; considers that there is a disparity in care for pregnant women in Scotland, including in the Lothian region, compared with England, and notes the calls on the Scottish Government to address what it sees as this disparity.